Dan Benishek

Not every single private hospital has 2,000 clinics, but they seem to do a better job.

The people on the ground who are actually taking care of the patients get to make some decisions.

It is really frustrating to me.

I have introduced, H.R. 2193, the VA Employee Fairness Act, to expand providers' ability to negotiate to improve staffing levels.

I think that very loss of professionalism has occurred.

That is the wrong answer, Dr. Lynch. That is what I am trying to tell you.

But they haven't gotten a central plan for hiring physicians over the last 30 years.

Well, that would sort of explain why it is difficult to recruit.

So this is all done through the H.R. department then? I mean, the physician hires, as well?

Because I know that in the private sector it doesn't take--if you apply for a job, it doesn't take 2 months.

In other words, like, 2 to 6 months----

Thank you, Ms. DaSilva.

I think VA's overly bureaucratic hiring process is also a significant factor in its inability to recruit a physician for multiple years running.

Regardless of how fulfilling VA employment often is, the Department's ability to effectively and efficiently recruit and retain qualified medical professionals to treat veterans is seriously fractured.

As a physician who worked fee-for-service at the Iron Mountain VA, Department of Veteran Affairs, Medical Center for about 20 years, I know firsthand how rewarding it can be to take care of veterans at the VA.

I'm very disappointed in Mr. Murray's testimony here today, but just as--I agree with the chairman, this is just outrageous.

I want to see some somebody's name, because otherwise they all say, well, nobody ever took care of this.

We are allowing them to out-compete us.

I have been to China, I have been to India, and the pollution there is unbelievably bad.

I am somewhat concerned about the fact that we are adding more and more controls for less and less improvement in our environment.

It is nothing but unjust to send our military personnel into harm's way and to not provide health care services.

There is more data that VA needs to provide to policymakers so we can make better decisions.

I want to be sure that the billions of dollars that we are sending to the VA gets spent in the most effective way that gives the most care to our veterans and it is not being eaten up by a bureaucracy.

Focusing solely on military exposures would likely result in inconclusive research.

Shouldn't we coordinate all of that in one place to explore toxic exposure issues?