[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3234 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3234

    To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish within the 
  Department of Veterans Affairs an Office of Failing Medical Center 
                   Recovery, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 28, 2015

  Mrs. Roby introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish within the 
  Department of Veterans Affairs an Office of Failing Medical Center 
                   Recovery, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Failing VA Medical Center Recovery 
Act''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF AN OFFICE OF FAILING MEDICAL CENTER RECOVERY.

    (a) Establishment.--
            (1) In general.--Chapter 3 of title 38, United States Code, 
        is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 323. Office of Failing Medical Center Recovery
    ``(a) Establishment.--(1) There is in the Department an Office of 
Failing Medical Center Recovery (in this section referred to as the 
`Office'). The head of the Office is the Under Secretary for Failing 
Medical Center Recovery.
    ``(2) The purpose of the Office is to carry out the managerial and 
day-to-day operational control of each medical center of the Department 
that the Secretary certifies as a failing medical center under 
subsection (b)(2).
    ``(b) Determination of Failing Medical Center.--(1) Not later than 
15 days after the end of each fiscal quarter, the Secretary shall 
publish in the Federal Register and on a publically available, 
searchable Internet website of the Department a compilation of key 
health metrics for each medical center of the Department.
    ``(2) On a semiannual basis, the Secretary shall certify that each 
medical center of the Department that is ranked as `failing' under the 
key health metrics is a failing medical center and is subject to the 
managerial and day-to-day operational control by the Office pursuant to 
this section.
    ``(3) The Secretary shall revoke the certification of a medical 
center of the Department as a failing medical center under paragraph 
(2) if the medical center achieves a ranking of `satisfactory' or 
better under the key health metrics for three consecutive fiscal 
quarters.
    ``(4) The Secretary shall submit to the President and Congress each 
certification made under paragraph (2).
    ``(5) On a quarterly basis, the Secretary shall submit to Congress 
a report on the Office, including the actions taken by the Under 
Secretary with respect to covered failing medical centers.
    ``(c) Functions.--(1)(A) The Secretary shall transfer each covered 
failing medical center from the direct control of the relevant Veterans 
Integrated Service Network to the direct control of the Under 
Secretary.
    ``(B) The Under Secretary, acting through the Office, shall assume 
responsibility for and carry out the managerial and day-to-day 
operational control of each covered failing medical center.
    ``(C) In carrying out subparagraph (B), the Under Secretary shall--
            ``(i) have the duties, responsibilities, and authority for 
        the covered failing medical center that the director of the 
        failing medical center had as of the day before the date of the 
        certification under subsection (b)(2);
            ``(ii) operate the covered failing medical center 
        independently from the relevant Veterans Integrated Service 
        Network; and
            ``(iii) retain the use of all resources and services that 
        would otherwise be made available to the covered failing 
        medical center by the Veterans Integrated Service Network.
    ``(2)(A) Upon a certification of the Secretary under subsection 
(b)(2) with respect to a covered failing medical center, the Under 
Secretary shall deploy a rapid deployment team to the covered failing 
medical center to carry out this subsection to ensure that the covered 
failing medical center achieves satisfactory performance as quickly as 
practicable.
    ``(B) Each rapid deployment team described in subparagraph (A) 
shall report directly to the Under Secretary and consist of personnel 
with experience in the following:
            ``(i) Business administration.
            ``(ii) Human resources.
            ``(iii) Congressional relations.
            ``(iv) Acute medical care.
            ``(v) Non-Department health care.
            ``(vi) Other professional experience the Under Secretary 
        determines appropriate.
    ``(3)(A) The Under Secretary shall have the authority to carry out 
adverse actions, including transfers or reassignments, pursuant to this 
title or title 5 that are applicable to any employee of a covered 
failing medical center, including the director and senior executives.
    ``(B) The Under Secretary may deem an employee of a covered failing 
medical center who is not otherwise covered by section 713 of this 
title to be an individual covered by such section for purposes of 
removing such individual from the civil service (as defined in section 
2101 of title 5).
    ``(4)(A) The Under Secretary may hire individuals as employees of 
the Veterans Health Administration at covered failing medical centers 
in positions that the Under Secretary determines are essential to 
improving patient care.
    ``(B) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in carrying out 
subparagraph (A), the Under Secretary may--
            ``(i) hire employees using the direct-hire authority under 
        section 3304(a)(3) of title 5; and
            ``(ii) pay such employees at a prevailing rate that is 125 
        percent of the rate for such position.
    ``(d) Administrative Matters.--(1) The Under Secretary shall ensure 
that the Office consists of the following personnel, including 
personnel of the rapid deployment teams under subsection (c)(2), in a 
number the Under Secretary determines appropriate:
            ``(A) Senior professional staff who have experience--
                    ``(i) in the operational departments of medical 
                centers of the Department; and
                    ``(ii) necessary to effectively run a medical 
                center.
            ``(B) Support staff.
    ``(2)(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in carrying 
out paragraph (1), the Under Secretary may--
                    ``(i) hire employees using the direct-hire 
                authority under section 3304(a)(3) of title 5; and
                    ``(ii) pay such employees at a prevailing rate that 
                is 125 percent of the rate for such position.
    ``(B) The Secretary shall ensure that employees of the Department 
who serve two years or more in the Office receive preferential 
treatment for promotion and advancement within the Department.
    ``(e) Contracts.--(1) The Under Secretary may use simplified 
procedures to award contracts for goods and services that the Under 
Secretary determines essential to improving patient care in covered 
failing medical centers.
    ``(2)(A) The Secretary shall include in the quarterly publications 
under subsection (b)(1) the amounts described in subparagraph (B), 
listed by specialty area.
    ``(B) The amounts described in this subparagraph are the amounts 
that the Secretary--
            ``(i) is obligated to pay to non-Department facilities (as 
        defined in section 1701 of this title) that provide care to 
        veterans under a covered failing medical center pursuant to a 
        contract entered into by the Secretary; and
            ``(ii) has not paid by the date that is 90 days after the 
        date required by chapter 39 of title 31.
    ``(f) Investigations and Whistleblower Protections.--(1) The 
Inspector General of the Department shall prioritize investigations 
relating to covered failing medical centers.
    ``(2) The Office of Accountability Review shall prioritize 
investigations of whistleblower retaliation relating to covered failing 
medical centers.
    ``(g) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) The term `covered failing medical center' means a 
        medical center of the Department that the Secretary certifies 
        as a failing medical center pursuant to paragraph (2) of such 
        subsection (b) and has not revoked such certification under 
        paragraph (3) of such subsection.
            ``(2) The term `key health metrics' means the following:
                    ``(A) The Strategic Analytics Improvement and 
                Learning (commonly referred to as `SAIL') data used by 
                the Department (or such successor data metric).
                    ``(B) A ranking for each medical center of the 
                Department based on the total data described in 
                subparagraph (A) for the specific medical center 
                whereby--
                            ``(i) medical centers in the 90th 
                        percentile are rated as `excellent';
                            ``(ii) medical centers in the 30th to 89th 
                        percentiles are rated as `satisfactory';
                            ``(iii) medical centers in the 4th to 29th 
                        percentiles are rated as `poor'; and
                            ``(iv) medical centers in the 3rd 
                        percentile and below are rated as `failing'.''.
            (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the 
        beginning of chapter 3 of such title is amended by adding after 
        the item relating to section 322 the following new item:

``323. Office of Failing Medical Center Recovery.''.
            (3) Initial key health metrics publication.--The Secretary 
        shall publish the initial key health metrics under section 
        323(b)(1) of title 38, United States Code, as added by 
        paragraph (1), by not later than 90 days after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act.
            (4) Initial certifications of a failing medical center.--
        The Secretary shall make the initial certifications under 
        section 323(b)(2) of title 38, United States Code, as added by 
        paragraph (1), by not later than 90 days after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act. Such certifications shall cover not 
        fewer than two and not more than seven medical centers of the 
        Department of Veterans Affairs.
    (b) Under Secretary.--
            (1) In general.--Chapter 3 of title 38, United States Code, 
        is further amended by inserting after section 305 the following 
        new section:
``Sec. 305A. Under Secretary for Failing Medical Center Recovery
    ``(a)(1) There is in the Department an Under Secretary for Failing 
Medical Center Recovery (in this section referred to as the `Under 
Secretary'), who is appointed by the President, by and with the advice 
and consent of the Senate.
    ``(2) The Under Secretary shall be appointed without regard to 
political affiliation or activity and solely--
            ``(A) on the basis of demonstrated ability in the medical 
        profession, in health-care administration and policy 
        formulation, in health-care fiscal management, or in health-
        care operations; and
            ``(B) on the basis of substantial operational experience in 
        connection with the programs of the Veterans Health 
        Administration or programs of similar content and scope.
    ``(b) The Under Secretary is the head of, and is directly 
responsible to the Secretary for the operation of, the Office of 
Failing Medical Center Recovery.''.
            (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the 
        beginning of chapter 3 of such title is further amended by 
        inserting after the item relating to section 305 the following 
        new item:

``305A. Under Secretary for Failing Medical Center Recovery.''.
    (c) Inclusion of Office in Educational Assistance Program.--Chapter 
76 of title 38, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Veterans Health Administration'' each 
        place it appears (other than section 7622(b)(1)) and inserting 
        ``Veterans Health Administration or the Office of Failing 
        Medical Center Recovery''; and
            (2) by striking ``section 7401 of this title'' each place 
        it appears and inserting ``section 7401 or section 323(d) of 
        this title''.
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