[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 134 (Thursday, September 18, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5848-S5849]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             COMPETITIVE PAY FOR HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, of the 21 million veterans in our country, 
about 750,000 live in Illinois. I hear from many of them as I travel 
around the State meeting with different groups. Like veterans 
throughout the United States, Illinois veterans are concerned about 
their health care. They are frustrated by lengthy wait times to get an 
appointment and, like all of us, they are furious about the wait list 
scandal uncovered this year. One factor that has contributed to the 
long wait times is a shortage of medical personnel at VA hospitals and 
clinics. In many cases there are not enough doctors and nurses to meet 
demand. Many of the doctors and nurses we do have are overwhelmed.
  One way we can address this is to give VA doctors and nurses a raise. 
I am happy that VA Secretary Bob McDonald announced this morning the 
agency is going to lift a salary freeze on medical personnel and plans 
to increase compensation for the health care providers who work with 
our veterans. This is a positive step in improving the ailing Veterans 
Health Administration.
  Salaries for VA doctors and nurses often are lower on average than 
those of their private sector counterparts, and those salaries have 
been frozen for 3 years. Primary care doctors and internists at VA 
facilities earned about 33 percent less than private sector primary 
care physicians in 2012, according to the Medical Group Management 
Association. A similar disparity can be found in nurses' pay.
  Last week Secretary McDonald testified at a Senate Veterans' Affairs 
Committee hearing that the VA needs about 28,000 new medical staffers--
doctors, nurses, other care providers, and

[[Page S5849]]

administrative staff--to improve the timeliness of care to the 8 
million veterans enrolled in the Veterans Health Administration. We can 
help meet that demand if we make those jobs more competitive by 
adjusting the pay scale.
  In the bill we passed this summer--which is now law--Congress gave 
Secretary McDonald the authority to fire underperformers. The other 
side of that coin is competitive pay for those who are performing. 
These doctors and nurses are caring for the men and women who put their 
lives at risk through military service. Let's lift the pay freeze on 
their salaries. The VA should have the best and the brightest medical 
staff out there. That means hiring the best and firing those who do not 
pass muster.
  The shortage of health care providers is not a new issue--
particularly in rural areas of the country. We have struggled with this 
in Illinois. The Danville and Marion VA medical centers--both in small 
towns far from an urban center--struggle to fill health care positions. 
In 2009 I offered an amendment to the fiscal year 2010 funding bill 
that set aside $3 million for incentive pay to help with recruitment 
and retention for medical personnel to serve in rural VA facilities. 
Raising salaries would help facilities such as these attract and keep 
topflight doctors and nurses.
  The Veterans Health Administration is an important training ground 
for many medical students. At Hines VA medical center in Chicago, 
medical students from Loyola get much of their training in a clinical 
setting. The veterans benefit from the addition of these young doctors. 
And hopefully that experience leads to more doctors looking to the VA 
as a career choice. But no matter how appealing the VA is, medical 
school debt is a factor. The VA offers a loan repayment program that 
can help offset those worries, but offering pay that is more comparable 
to the private sector would make working for the VA health care system 
even more attractive to new graduates and would help retain current 
staff.
  The VA cares for America's heroes, the men and women who have worked 
to keep our country safe and defend American ideals abroad. As recent 
investigations have brought to light, VA must improve recruitment and 
retention of medical personnel to keep pace with growing demand. I am 
happy Secretary McDonald is lifting the salary freeze on medical 
personnel and plans to increase compensation for the health care 
providers who work with our veterans. They deserve the best.

                          ____________________