The Department of Veterans Affairs will realign multiple programs within the Veterans Health Administration into four offices to improve care coordination for former service members. The consolidation will cover the areas of population health, education and training of healthcare professionals, research, academic affiliations, engineering services and human resources, the VA said last week.VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said realigning the programs and consolidating offices will reduce bureaucracy within the agency, provide clearer governance and promote greater accountability.Â
The realignment effort include:\n
- Consolidating six programs for population health into one office to reduce administrative burden on the Veterans Integrated Services Networks and hospitals.
- Putting the Office of Academic Affiliations and Office of Research and Development under the new Discovery, Education and Affiliates Networks office.
- Integrating engineering and environment of care functions into a single office for coordinated environmental and safety initiatives.
- Combining four headquarters-based HR groups into one office for efficiency of HR organization and a more transparent and consistent service.
\nPresident Trump required the realignment through his Executive Order 13781 initiating the reorganization of the executive branch. The VA began work on the project on Nov. 25th.
