{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20140830010036/https://heck.house.gov/press-release/va-embraces-heck-proposal-part-new-national-medical-professional-recruitment-effort", "VA Embraces Heck Proposal as Part of New National Medical Professional Recruitment Effort", "2014-08-29", "2014", "2014-08", "Republican", "House", "NV", "Joe Heck", "H001055", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "HENDERSON -- As part of ongoing efforts to improve care and customer service at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), new VA Secretary Robert McDonald today announced the start of a national recruitment effort to bring \"the best and brightest health professionals to the Department of Veterans Affairs.\" One of the policies included in this effort is based on legislation introduced by Congressman Joe Heck (NV-03).\u00a0\nAccording to the VA's press release, one step in the new national recruitment effort is \"Improving the credentialing process for VA and DoD health care providers which will involve sharing credentials to speed up the process.\"\nRep. Heck's legislation, entitled the VA Credentialing and Privileging Improvement Act, would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to accept the credentials of Department of Defense physicians and expedite the granting of clinical privileges. It was introduced in conjunction with passage of H.R. 3230, the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014, legislation that makes major reforms to the Department of Veterans Affairs.\nUpon hearing of the adoption of this policy, Rep. Heck said, \u201cI\u2019m pleased Secretary McDonald has included reforms to the credentialing process in this new recruitment effort. It demonstrates the solutions-based approach he is bringing to the VA. This policy will bridge the access to care gap for our veterans while maintaining the high quality of care they deserve.\u201d\nRep. Heck mentioned his pending legislation to Secretary McDonald during his recent trip to Las Vegas.\u00a0\u00a0\nThe VA's press release on the new national recruitment effort is pasted below.\n###\nSecretary McDonald Announces the Start of a National Recruitment Effort to Bring Needed Medical Professionals to VA\nRecruitment of Additional Medical Providers Will Increase Access to Care \nWASHINGTON \u2013 Speaking to a crowd of medical students, residents and faculty at Duke University\u2019s School of Medicine, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert A. McDonald today launched a recruiting initiative aimed at bringing the best and brightest health professionals to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) which will ultimately expand access to care for Veterans.\n\u201cAt VA, we have the most inspiring mission and the greatest clients of any healthcare system in the world. That\u2019s exactly the message I\u2019m going to share as I speak with health care professionals and students about the value of serving at VA,\u201d said Secretary McDonald. \u201cWe have taken action to get Veterans off of wait lists and into clinics in the short-term, but in the long-term, in order to provide timely access to care, we need to build capacity by hiring more clinicians. We need the best doctors and nurses serving Veterans, and that is why I will be out recruiting, leveraging the existing relationships and affiliations VA has with many academic institutions, and talking directly to medical professionals about joining us to fulfill our exceptional mission of caring for those who \u2018shall have borne the battle.\u2019\u201d\nVA is taking multiple steps to expand capacity at our facilities, to provide Veterans the timely care they have earned and deserve.\u00a0 In addition to Secretary McDonald\u2019s direct messages to clinicians and clinicians-in-training, these steps include:\n* Collaborating on a new nursing academic partnership (VA Nursing Academic Partnerships or VANAP) focused on psychiatric and mental health care to build stronger, mutually beneficial relationships between nursing schools and VA facilities.\n* Partnering with the Department of Defense Health Affairs, Army, Navy, and Air Force to improve recruitment of recently or soon to be discharged health care professionals. VHA is already taking advantage of known separations of military health care workers.\nExpanding of a pilot program to bring combat medics and corpsmen in to VA facilities as clinicians\n* Improving the credentialing process for VA and DoD health care providers which will involve sharing credentials to speed up the process.\n* Expanding of the loan repayment program, as included in the recently passed Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act\nConsidering options to revise pay tables to offer more competitive salaries for VA providers, in comparison to their academic and private practice colleagues.\u00a0\nThese actions build on existing recruitment tools, including partnerships between local facilities and academic institutions, loan repayment programs, and scholarship programs.\n\u201cIn order to recruit and retain the highest quality medical professionals, VA needs to be competitive with other healthcare systems, and ultimately that is how we provide the best care to our Veteran patients,\u201d said Interim Under Secretary for Health Carolyn M. Clancy.\nTo learn more about how to work in VA health care and serve our Nation\u2019s Veterans, please visit: www.vacareers.va.gov.\n#\u00a0\u00a0 #\u00a0\u00a0 #", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140830010036/https://heck.house.gov/press-release/va-embraces-heck-proposal-part-new-national-medical-professional-recruitment-effort"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.312025986611843, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}