CINCINNATI — A group of a dozen or so, including nurses who work at the Cincinnati VA Medical Center, gathered on Wednesday to protest looming job cuts within the Department of Veterans Affairs.
VA Secretary Doug Collins recently announced plans to slash 15% of department jobs by August as part of a reorganization effort.
“This administration is finally going to give the veterans what they want,” Collins said in a March video. “President Trump has a mandate for generational change in Washington and that’s exactly what we’re going to deliver at the VA.”
The reorganization effort will look to cut around 72,000 jobs, Collins said. But, according to the Associated Press, that number could be closer to 80,000.
"It's just a lot of unknown. It's scary. A lot of the nurses are worried. It's a lot of wait and see," said Courtney Collins, a bedside nurse at the Cincinnati VA Medical Center. "We're told that the nurses aren't excluded (from job cuts). So, the nurses are worried. And ultimately, we're all here because we want to take care of the veterans."
The goal, Secretary Collins said, is for the VA to revert to 2019 staffing levels.
"VA will always fulfill its duty to provide veterans, families, caregivers and survivors the health care and benefits they have earned," Collins said. "That's a promise."
In a past statement, a White House spokesperson said President Trump “refuses to accept the VA bureaucracy and bloat that has hindered veterans’ ability to receive timely and quality care.”
Not everyone at Wednesday's rally felt that rang true.
Hear more from those who rallied in the video below:
"I don't agree with that statement," Rob Hamrick, a son of a veteran and rally supporter, said. "I know there's always going to be some amount of waste and fraud in any organization, but to just cut willy-nilly and not have a plan that I can see. I can't agree with it."
Hamrick said his father previously received care from the Cincinnati VA Medical Center.
"There's so many things going on, but it's just really concerning. I'm just trying to keep up as much as I can," he said. "I do not believe that these cuts should be happening. It's imperative we support our veterans."
Courtney Collins said she believes any potential job cuts to the Cincinnati VA Medical Center and other clinics will exacerbate ongoing staffing issues.
"There's a lot of VAs that are already running slim pickings for staffing. There's a lot of days we're at work, and there just is not enough staff. People get sick, people call off we understand that," she said. "But in a hospital setting, when people are not at work or there's not enough nurses, that does negatively affect the patients."
