,,ii  #aaeth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #hjd  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the
 ,,united ,,states  ,april #c1 #bjag,mr4
 ,heller 7for himself and ,mrs4 ,murray7
 introduced the following bill2 which   
was read twice and referred to the      
,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs  ,a   
,,bill  ,to improve the provision of    
health care for women veterans by the   
,department of ,veterans ,affairs1 and  
for other purposes4  #a4 ,short title   
,this ,act may be cited as the ,women   
,veterans ,access to ,quality ,care ,act
 of #bjag4  #b4 ,establishment of       
structural standards to meet            
gender-specific health care needs in    
medical facilities of ,department of    
,veterans ,affairs  7a7 ,establishment  
7#a7 ,in general ,the ,secretary of     
,veterans ,affairs shall establish      
standards to ensure that all medical    
facilities of the ,department of        
,veterans ,affairs have the structural  
characteristics necessary to adequately 
meet the gender-specific health care    

needs of veterans at such facilities1   
including privacy1 safety1 and dignity4 
7#b7 ,regulations ,not later than #ahj  
days after the date of the enactment of 
this ,act1 the ,secretary shall         
prescribe regulations to carry out      
paragraph 7#a74  7b7 ,integration into  
prioritization methodology ,not later   
than #bgj days after the date of the    
enactment of this ,act1 the ,secretary  
shall integrate the standards           
established under subsection 7a77#a7    
into the prioritization methodology used
 by the ,department under paragraph 7#e7
 of section #hajd7;b7 of title #ch1     
,united ,states ,code1 with respect to  
requests for the funding of major       
medical facility projects and major     
medical facility leases under such      
section4  7c7 ,report ,not later than   
#ae months after the date of the        
enactment of this ,act1 the ,secretary  
shall submit to the ,committee on       
,veterans' ,affairs of the ,senate and  
the ,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs of

 the ,house of ,representatives a report
 on the standards established under     
subsection 7a77#a7 that includes the    
following3  7#a7 ,a list of the medical 
facilities of the ,department that fail 
to meet such standards4  7#b7 ,the      
minimum total cost of the projects or   
leases that would be required to ensure 
that all medical facilities of the      
,department meet such standards4  7#c7  
,the number of such projects or leases  
that qualify as a major medical facility
 project or major medical facility lease
 under section #hajd7;a77#c74  7#d7     
,where each such project or lease is    
located in the current project          
prioritization of the ,department4  #c4 
,establishment of policies for          
environment of care inspections at      
medical centers of ,department of       
,veterans ,affairs ,not later than #fj  
days after the date of the enactment of 
this ,act1 the ,secretary of ,veterans  
,affairs shall--  7#a7 establish        
policies for environment of care        

inspections at medical centers of the   
,department of ,veterans ,affairs that  
include--  7,a7 an alignment of the     
requirements for such inspections with  
the women's health handbook of the      
,veterans ,health ,administration2  7,b7
 a requirement for the frequency of such
 inspections2 and  7,c7 a delineation of
 the roles and responsibilities of staff
 at the medical center who are          
responsible for compliance2 and  7#b7   
certify to the ,committee on ,veterans' 
,affairs of the ,senate and the         
,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs of the
 ,house of ,representatives that the    
policies established under paragraph    
7#a7 have been finalized and            
disseminated to medical centers of the  
,department4  #d4 ,use of health        
outcomes for women veterans in          
evaluating the performance of directors 
of medical centers of ,department and   
disclosure of health outcomes  7a7      
,evaluation of directors ,the ,secretary
 of ,veterans ,affairs shall use health 

outcomes for women veterans furnished   
hospital care1 medical services1 and    
other health care by the ,department of 
,veterans ,affairs in evaluating the    
performance of directors of medical     
centers of the ,department4  7b7 ,public
 availability  7#a7 ,in general ,the    
,secretary shall publish on a publicly  
available ,internet website of the      
,department information on the          
performance of directors of medical     
centers of the ,department with respect 
to health outcomes for women veterans4  
7#b7 ,data on health outcomes ,the      
,secretary shall publish on a publicly  
available ,internet website of each     
medical facility of the ,department the 
following3  7,a7 ,data on health        
outcomes pursuant to key health outcome 
metrics at such facility for veterans   
who are women4  7,b7 ,a comparison of   
how such data compares to data on health
 outcomes pursuant to key health outcome
 metrics at such facility for veterans  
who are men4  7,c7 ,explanatory or      

clarifying information necessary for    
members of the public to understand the 
data under subparagraphs 7,a7 and 7,b74 
#e4 ,increase in number of              
obstetrician-gynecologists of           
,department of ,veterans ,affairs  7a7  
,requirement ,not later than #ah months 
after the date of the enactment of this 
,act1 the ,secretary of ,veterans       
,affairs shall ensure that every medical
 center of the ,department of ,veterans 
,affairs has a full-time                
obstetrician-gynecologist4  7b7 ,pilot  
program on increase of residency and    
medical education positions ,not later  
than two years after the date of the    
enactment of this ,act1 the ,secretary  
of ,veterans ,affairs shall carry out a 
pilot program to increase the number of 
residency program positions and graduate
 medical education positions for        
obstetrician-gynecologists at medical   
facilities of the ,department of        
,veterans ,affairs in not fewer than    
three ,veterans ,integrated ,service    

,networks of the ,department4  #f4      
,procedures for provision of certain    
information to ,state veterans agencies 
to facilitate the furnishing of         
assistance and benefits to veterans  7a7
 ,procedures required ,the ,secretary of
 ,veterans ,affairs shall develop       
procedures to share the information     
described in subsection 7b7 regarding   
veterans with ,state veterans agencies  
in electronic data format as a means of 
facilitating the furnishing of          
assistance and benefits to veterans4    
7b7 ,covered information ,the           
information shared with ,state veterans 
agencies under subsection 7a7 regarding 
a veteran shall include the following3  
7#a7 ,military service and separation   
data4  7#b7 ,a personal email address4  
7#c7 ,a personal telephone number4  7#d7
 ,a mailing address4  7c7 ,opt-,out     
election ,a veteran may elect to prevent
 their information from being shared    
with ,state veterans agencies under     
subsection 7a7 pursuant to a process    

that the ,secretary shall establish for 
purposes of this subsection4  7d7 ,use  
of information ,the ,secretary shall    
ensure that the information shared with 
,state veterans agencies in accordance  
with the procedures developed under     
subsection 7a7 is only shared by such   
agencies with county government veterans
 service offices for such purposes as   
the ,secretary shall specify for the    
administration and delivery of          
assistance and benefits4  #g4           
,examination of ability of medical      
centers of ,department of ,veterans     
,affairs to meet health care needs of   
women veterans  7a7 ,in general ,the    
,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs shall  
carry out an examination of whether the 
medical centers of the ,department of   
,veterans ,affairs are able to meet the 
health care needs of women veterans4    
7b7 ,elements ,the examination under    
subsection 7a7 shall address1 with      
respect to each medical center of the   
,department1 at a minimum1 the          

following3  7#a7 ,the wait times for    
women veterans for appointments for the 
receipt of hospital care1 medical       
services1 or other health care4  7#b7   
,whether the medical center has a clinic
 that specializes in the treatment of   
women4  7#c7 ,the number of full-time   
obstetrician-gynecologists4  7#d7 ,the  
number of health professionals trained  
in women's health4  7#e7 ,the extent to 
which the medical center conducts       
regular--  7,a7 training on issues      
specific to women's health2 and  7,b7   
sensitivity training4  7#f7 ,the        
differences in health outcomes between  
men and women4  7#g7 ,the security and  
privacy measures used in registration1  
clinical1 and diagnostic areas4  7#h7   
,the availability of gender-specific    
equipment or procedures4  7#i7 ,the     
extent to which the ,center for ,women  
,veterans of the ,department advises and
 engages with the medical center with   
respect to providing health care to     
women veterans4  7#aj7 ,the extent to   

which the medical center implements     
directives from the ,center for ,women  
,veterans4  7#aa7 ,the outreach         
conducted by the ,department to women   
veterans in the community served by the 
medical center4  7#ab7 ,the             
collaboration between the medical center
 and non-,department entities1 including
 veterans service organizations1 to meet
 the health care needs of women         
veterans4  7#ac7 ,the effectiveness of  
,patient ,aligned ,care ,teams in       
meeting the health care needs of women  
veterans4  7c7 ,report ,not later than  
#bgj days after the date of the         
enactment of this ,act1 the ,secretary  
of ,veterans ,affairs shall submit to   
the ,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs of
 the ,senate and the ,committee on      
,veterans' ,affairs of the ,house of    
,representatives a report on the        
examination carried out under subsection
 7a74  7d7 ,veterans service            
organization defined ,in this section1  
the term veterans service organization  

means an organization recognized by the 
,secretary for the representation of    
veterans under section #eijb of title   
#ch1 ,united ,states ,code4