The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommended that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) come up with a comprehensive strategy for supply chain management to address its acquisition management-related issues and better meet the needs of veterans.
GAO made the recommendation after it found that each of VA’s initiatives to advance supply chain modernization and prepare for future public health crises faces delays, according to a report published Tuesday.
Those initiatives are the department’s replacement of its inventory management platform with the Defense Medical Logistics Standard Support system, establishment of four centers as central sources of critical medical supplies and planned participation in the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) program to ensure emergency access to critical supplies.
The congressional watchdog has provided VA with 49 recommendations to make improvements to its acquisition management since 2015. The department has addressed 22 of those recommendations, according to the report.
