A report issued by the Veterans Affairs Inspector General's office this week showed the Hampton VA has 24 positions considered in severe shortage.
The open slots range from a psychiatrist and orthopedic surgeon to an emergency room nurse.
Morale is low at the hospital, said Sheila Elliott, president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 2328, which covers the Hampton VA.
“I think we feel, the employees feel right now, a lot of uncertainty about what's going on with respect to leadership,” she said. “Then when you add on the problems that we're having getting staff on board, and that's an issue.”
New leadership took over at the Hampton VA on Monday after a series of damning reports from the VA Inspector General. Leadership at the Hampton VA did not know how to properly document potential problems with patient care, a problem specifically associated with the assistant chief of surgery.
“I see that there are problems with respect to training of our managers,” Elliot said. “They don't get trained. They may come to the job with technical experience, but they do not come to the job with the human resources piece.”
Nationwide, VA hospitals report nearly 3,000 positions in critical shortage.
“We continue to recruit for vacant positions and as a part of this, optimize incentives for eligible positions,” said Terrence Hayes, national VA spokesman, speaking for the Hampton VA.
The Hampton VA has a 16% vacancy rate, an improvement from 24% last year. The open slots include 16% of registered nurses and 25% of physicians, he said.
