VA nurses rallied at Rep. Rick Allen’s Augusta office Friday for a fully staffed VA and end to reductions at the nation’s veteran hospitals.
Irma Westmoreland, an RN at the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center in Augusta, said the rally was one of dozens nationwide asking congress members to promise to preserve the VA and end efforts to shift veteran care to the private sector.
“We are challenging our elected representatives to stand up to the Trump administration’s efforts to privatize the VA,” said Westmoreland, VA division director for National Nurses United.
The nurses’ union believes the administration’s goal is to shift veteran healthcare completely to the private sector and shutter the VA network of hospitals and clinics. The Department of Veterans Affairs will become a claims processor for veterans to obtain care on the free market.
Westmoreland said healthcare CEOs are “salivating” at the chance to funnel taxpayer money into private sector care, while the VA provides “world-class, veteran-centric care that cannot be found in the private sector.”
Allen’s office responded to the rally Friday by inviting the group in to meet with him. Asked to comment, a spokesperson said the following:
“Congressman Allen is aware of the organized event and is respectful of his constituents’ right to peacefully protest. He also encourages anyone having issues with the VA or any federal agency to contact his office.”
A federal hiring freeze, resignations and regular turnover have seen the VA shed 30,000 employees this fiscal year, fewer than a previous goal of 80,000 announced by Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins. But the cuts are adding up, according to the VA’s own findings.
This year’s VA Office of Inspector General report found “severe” staffing shortages have increased 50% at the VA while 79% of VA facilities have severe shortages of nurses. Norwood had a severe shortage of eight clinical occupations, a 60% increase since 2021.
Rallying with the nurses Friday, Ed Anderson, an Air Force veteran with the Georgia-based progressive veteran group Common Defense said the VA saved his life. But recently he’s had to wait months for appointments while he sees other veterans slip through the cracks, Anderson said.
“We want to increase the awareness, not just for Rep. Allen, but the public needs to understand the depth of this problem,” he said.
The groups are calling on Allen and other members of Congress to sign a pledge to:
- Restore collective bargaining rights to some 1.4 million nurses and federal employees.
- Stop reductions in force and hiring freezes.
- End the cycle of shifting VA funds to the private sector during the appropriations process.
Westmoreland said Allen indicated he would listen to the nurses’ concerns.
“We have a commitment to the mission of the VA to care for every single veteran that comes through that door,” she said. “We want them to all to get quality care and we want them all to get it at the VA and at the Charlie Norwood VA. “We want to expand every service we have.”
