It's incredibly disappointing to hear how you've been handled. It's beyond the pale that some of this would go on.

I am amazed at the lack of anticipating what is going to be asked of you when you come here...

I am your staunchest supporter, but I will be your harshest critic when it needs to be.

If you are serious about this triage, I would think you would be turning over every stone to find a physician.

It is clear that the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) current performance review and performance pay systems are part of the problem.

This is the only thing that matters, and this is the only reason the VHA should exist.

We owe it to the thousands of professionals at the VA who are doing things right, and, most importantly, we owe it to the veterans in their care to get this problem fixed.

It does not make sense to have over 150 individual performance pay policies as is currently the case.

The starting point for all that we do has to be the veteran; if we are going to improve their health outcomes, we have to get them directly involved in the process.

I do worry, and the gentleman from Ohio brought up a great point, that we have to be very careful in doing this so that we don't disincentivize people that want to do this right.

I just--and I am trying to get this, and you are hearing the frustration.