According to the annual Office of Inspector General (OIG) staffing report, VA hospitals are facing an increase in hiring challenges compared to last year, with facilities reporting a total of 4,712 severe staffing shortages spread across 389 occupations. This is up from 4,434 in fiscal year 2025.
After years of ignoring warnings that its decentralized police force resulted in inconsistent standards and lax security at hospitals, VA announced it will be overhauling the force, raising pay rates and creating a unified chain of command that it hopes will solve its long-running issues.
Young veterans are more likely to have higher levels of “forever chemicals” in their bloodstream than their civilian counterparts, a recent study has confirmed. While researchers could not say for sure what caused the elevated levels, it’s long been established that many military facilities are contaminated due to their use of the chemicals to fight fires.
President Donald Trump has issued an executive order directing DoD and VA to update their technology and policies to allow for ongoing sharing of servicemember’s records from the moment they enroll in the military.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is continuing to take aim at a variety of vaccine policies despite significant pushback from Republicans and Democrats in Congress as well as physicians and healthcare organizations.
VA cancelled hundreds of vendor contracts totaling $1.1 billion during a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)-led review in 2025, according to a review by the VA Office of the Inspector General.
A congressional hearing on the status of VA’s electronic health record system rollout began with accusations from both Democrats and Republicans of incompetence and corruption and ended with a committee vote to subpoena the chief of Oracle, the system’s manufacturer.
Coast Guard leaders have acknowledged the risk of traumatic brain injury (TBI) to its servicemembers caused by repetitive, violent impacts while riding in high-speed craft and promised to improve how the service identifies and prevents brain injury.
More than 1 in 5 veterans calling to set up a specialty care appointment with VA were misrouted, disconnected or forwarded to a nonfunctional telephone number, according to a VA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) investigation.
Coast Guard leaders have acknowledged the risk of traumatic brain injury (TBI) to its servicemembers caused by repetitive, violent impacts while riding in high-speed craft and promised to improve how the service identifies and prevents brain injury.
Last month, the Senate confirmed the nomination of Erica Schwartz, MD, MPH, JD, a former Navy physician and chief medical officer of the Coast Guard, as director of the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) despite fears from both Republicans and Democrats that she will fail to push back against the anti-vaccine agenda of the Trump administration.
VA is continuing to move forward with its Restructure for Impact of Sustainable Effort (RISE) initiative—the complete overhaul of the VISN networks under which its facilities are grouped and managed.
A proposed rule from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is seeking to overhaul the uniform guidance for federal grantees. The rule would deemphasize the peer-review process,
After years of ignoring warnings that its decentralized police force resulted in inconsistent standards and lax security at hospitals, VA announced it will be overhauling the force, raising pay rates and creating a unified chain of command that it hopes will solve its long-running issues.
A massive VA omnibus bill is facing unexpected hurdles in Congress and has split veterans service organizations, with some saying it sets a dangerous precedent for how medical disability is calculated, while others argue that its current benefits outweigh future dangers.
Lawmakers are calling for an independent audit of TRICARE’s pharmacy program amid concerns that the contractor tasked with managing the program is pushing servicemembers toward its own pharmacies and driving out smaller retailers.
When Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced last month that the military will begin screening male servicemembers for low testosterone, the new policy drew criticism and questions from Democrats. But, the proclamation also fell into line behind a larger effort by current public health officials to loosen rules around testosterone therapy.
VA announced recently that its disability claims backlog fell below 70,000 for the first time since February 2020. That success has been partially attributed to technology modernization, which includes the use of AI in early stages of the benefits process.
Nearly half of women veterans who receive VA healthcare are at an age when menopause is most likely to occur. But, while VA offers care for menopause symptoms, like hot flashes and issues with memory, mood and sleep, an investigation by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found that the majority of women veterans are unaware those services exist.
VA policy to minimize the barriers preventing employee use of artificial intelligence (AI ) might be resulting in higher risks for veterans, according to a recent VA Office of the Inspector General report. An investigation found that the agency failed to acknowledge the extent to which providers are using AI chat tools in patient care.