VA Cutting Regional Office Staffs by a Quarter
September 28, 2012
The Veterans Affairs Department has begun slashing more than a quarter of its staff at 21 regional medical management offices.
The cuts will reduce total staffing at those regional offices from roughly 1,700 now to 1,236 — a cut of about 464 positions, according to a Sept. 10 internal memo obtained by Federal Times.
Each regional office had staffs of roughly 82 people on average, as of June. Under the new plan, they will shrink to between 55 — in the case of Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 5, in Linthicum, Md. — and 65 — in the case of VISN 8, in St. Petersburg, Fla.
VA spokesman Phil Budahn declined to discuss the scope or timetable of the staffing cuts. In a statement, he said no employees would lose their jobs, although some might be shifted into other positions at medical centers within their regions.