VA staff exodus raises patient-care alarm

More than 11,000 VA health care employees have applied to leave the agency through separation incentives, according to data obtained by Federal News Network. Among them, more than 1,300 nurses, nearly 800 medical support assistants, and 200 physicians have sought early retirement or voluntary separation under governmentwide incentives.

VA Press Secretary Pete Kasperowicz stressed that the Deferred Resignation Program (DRP) approvals for direct-care staff will be “very limited” and subject to high-level reviews. Still, National Nurses United member Ann Marie Patterson Powell warned that cutting ancillary positions forces nurses to absorb nonclinical duties—reducing bedside time and intensifying patient safety risks. “Every minute away from the patient’s bedside puts that patient at risk,” she said.

VA staffing surged by roughly 63,000 positions since fiscal 2019 to support health-care expansions under the 2022 PACT Act, which extended benefits to toxic-exposed veterans. Yet the agency now plans to return to 2019 workforce levels—a reduction of about 83,000 jobs—after VA Secretary Doug Collins told the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee that cutting nonessential roles would free resources for direct veteran care.

The Veterans Health Administration still faces more than 53,000 vacancies and is actively recruiting to fill over half of them. As of 28 April 2025, 3,387 DRP agreements have been signed; participating employees must separate by 30 September.

Growing unrest among VA staff has spurred legislative action. The VA Employees Fairness Act, reintroduced by Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), would restore collective bargaining rights for VA health workers—a move advocates say is critical to safeguarding care standards.