August 22, 2019 3:50 a.m.
Congressman Peter DeFazio is calling for solutions for VA Healthcare staffing retention and recruitment issues in southwest Oregon.
On Wednesday, DeFazio sent letters to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, calling on the agencies to be better partners in an effort to recruit and retain “quality health care workers” for the Roseburg VA Healthcare System.
A release from DeFazio said last week, staffing shortfalls within the RVAHCS forced the abrupt closure of the Roseburg Emergency Department and its conversion to an Urgent Care facility. The release said that leaves Roseburg area veterans with few immediate care options after 8:00 p.m. on weekdays and also on weekends.
DeFazio said “we must do more to recruit and retain top-tier health care providers”. He said multiple candidates declined employment offers from the Roseburg VA between 2017 and 2019 because the salary and benefit packages did not cover the higher cost of living and housing shortages in Douglas and Lane counties. DeFazio said the federal government “needs to be a better partner and work closely with the RVAHCS to address these systemic issues in order to provide the high-quality health care services our veterans earned in service to our country”.
DeFazio will host a town hall meeting on Friday focused on health care issues, including the situation with the VA in southwest Oregon. That hour-long event will begin at 2:00 p.m. in Center Stage Theater at Umpqua Community College.
Prior to the town hall Friday, DeFazio will be on Inside Douglas County at 12:30 p.m. on News Radio 1240 KQEN.