(CHICAGO) — VA nurses will hold a rally Friday in Chicago as part of a nationwide action to demand a fully funded and fully staffed VA.
The rally follows the release of this year’s OIG report, which found severe staffing shortages had increased 50 percent in the VA in the last year, and 79 percent of VA facilities with “severe shortages” of nurses.
At the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center in Chicago, the OIG reported 16 clinical positions with a severe staffing shortage. There are some 552,000 veterans in Illinois, including more than 247,000 served by the VA.
“Since January, we’ve witnessed nonstop actions taken against nurses that we know will result in the deterioration of the VA and the care our veterans receive,” said Carolina Stewart, RN at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center. “Nurses’ schedules have been unilaterally changed, upending lives and coercing nurses into leaving the bedside. They’re doing everything they can to drive nurses away from veterans, in an effort to be able to say that the VA is not equipped to care for our nation’s heroes and force our veterans into the private sector. We are determined to fight for the VA and the unique veteran-centric care only the VA can provide.”
The 2025 OIG report was released as VA Secretary Doug Collins seeks to cut 30,000 staffers from the VA by the end of September. Nurses are demanding that elected leaders pledge to stand with veterans and fight for full staffing at all VA facilities.
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