,i  #aafth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #aabe  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,february #h1        
#bjai,mr4 ,kilmer 7for himself1 ,mr4    
,webster of ,florida1 ,mr4 ,rutherford1 
,mr4 ,peters1 ,mrs4 ,murphy1 ,mr4 ,kelly
 of ,pennsylvania1 ,mr4 ,moulton1 ,mrs4 
,brooks of ,indiana1 and ,ms4 ,kuster of
 ,new ,hampshire7 introduced the        
following bill2 which was referred to   
the ,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs   
,a ,,bill  ,to direct the ,secretary of 
,veterans ,affairs to carry out a pilot 
program on physical security at         
,department of ,veterans ,affairs       
medical facilities1 to direct the       
,secretary to make certain improvements 
relating to inspections of ,department  
of ,veterans ,affairs medical facilities
 and improving care for women1 and for  
other purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this 
,act may be cited as the ,accountability
 for ,quality ,,va ,healthcare ,act4    
#b4 ,pilot program on physical security 
at ,department of ,veterans ,affairs    

medical facilities  7a7 ,in general     
,beginning not later than #ij days after
 the date of the enactment of this ,act 
the ,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs    
shall carry out a pilot program to      
enhance the physical security of        
,department of ,veterans ,affairs       
medical facilities4 ,at the medical     
facilities selected for the pilot       
program1 the ,secretary shall--  7#a7   
ensure that alarm systems effectively   
notify relevant staff in the police     
command and control centers and the unit
 nursing stations of the facility2 and  
7#b7 require relevant medical center    
stakeholders to coordinate and consult  
on-- 7,a7 plans for new and renovated   
units2 and  7,b7 any changes to physical
 security features1 including           
closed-circuit television cameras4  7b7 
,locations ,the ,secretary shall select 
five medical facilities of the          
,department to participate in the pilot 
program4  7c7 ,termination ,the pilot   
program shall terminate on the date that

 is two years after the date on which   
the pilot program commences4  7d7       
,report ,not later than #cj days after  
the termination of the pilot program    
under subsection 7c71 the ,secretary    
shall submit to ,congress a report on   
the pilot program4  #c4 ,report on      
,department of ,veterans ,affairs       
improvement of facility alignment  7a7  
,in general ,not later than #ij days    
after the date of the enactment of this 
,act1 the ,secretary of ,veterans       
,affairs shall submit to ,congress a    
report on the findings and              
recommendations of the report of the    
,government ,accountability ,office     
entitled ,,va ,real ,property3 ,,va     
,should ,improve ,its ,efforts to ,align
 ,facilities with ,veterans' ,needs4    
,the report submitted by the ,secretary 
shall include the plan of the           
,secretary1 including a time frame for  
completion1 to specifically address the 
following recommendations3  7#a7 ,to    
address identified limitations to the   

strategic capital investment planning   
process1 including limitations to       
scoring and approval and access to      
information4  7#b7 ,to assess the value 
of the ,department of ,veterans ,affairs
 ,integrated ,planning facility master  
plans as a facility-planning tool1 and  
based on conclusions contained in the   
,government ,accountability ,office     
report1 either discontinue the          
development of such master plans or     
address the limitations of such master  
plans4  7#c7 ,to develop and distribute 
guidance for ,veterans ,integrated      
,service ,networks and facilities using 
best practices on how to effectively    
communicate with stakeholders about     
alignment change4  7#d7 ,to develop and 
implement a mechanism to evaluate       
,veterans ,integrated ,service ,network 
and facility communication efforts with 
stakeholders to ensure that such        
communication efforts are working as    
intended and align with guidance and    
best practices4  7b7 ,public            

availability ,upon submittal of the     
report under subsection 7a71 the        
,secretary shall make the report        
publicly available on an internet       
website of the ,department4  #d4 ,update
 of handbook to improve leasing projects
 ,not later than #ahj days after the    
date of the enactment of this ,act1 and 
not less than once every five-year      
period thereafter1 the ,secretary of    
,veterans ,affairs shall update the     
handbook of the ,department of ,veterans
 ,affairs titled ,planning and          
,activating ,community ,based           
,outpatient ,clinics1 or a successor    
handbook1 to reflect current policies1  
best practices1 and clarify the roles   
and responsibilities of the personnel of
 the ,department involved in the leasing
 projects of the ,department4  #e4      
,improvement of inspections of          
,department of ,veterans ,affairs       
medical facilities and improvement of   
care for women provided by ,department  
of ,veterans ,affairs  7a7 ,findings    

,congress makes the following findings3 
7#a7 ,the ,department of ,veterans      
,affairs has policies in place to help  
ensure the privacy1 safety1 and dignity 
of women veterans when they receive care
 at its medical facilities4  7#b7 ,a    
,government ,accountability ,office     
report found many instances of          
noncompliance with such policies4  7#c7 
,women veterans are the fastest growing 
cohort within the veteran community4    
7#d7 ,women serve in every branch of the
 ,armed ,forces and represent nearly #ae
 percent of the members of the ,armed   
,forces currently serving on active duty
 and #ah percent of members of the      
,national ,guard and reserve components4
  7#e7 ,the number of women veterans    
using the medical care provided by the  
,department of ,veterans ,affairs is    
expected to increase dramatically4  7b7 
,sense of ,congress ,it is the sense of 
,congress that-- 7#a7 female veterans   
are put at risk by a system that is     
currently designed for men2 and  7#b7   

the ,department of ,veterans ,affairs   
should follow through with commitments  
to ensure female veterans can access    
services tailored to their needs4  7c7  
,improvement of inspections of          
,department of ,veterans ,affairs       
medical facilities and improvement of   
care for women provided by ,department  
of ,veterans ,affairs  7#a7 ,improvement
 of inspections process ,the ,secretary 
of ,veterans ,affairs shall strengthen  
the environment of care inspections     
process and oversight of such process   
by--  7,a7 expanding the list of        
requirements that facility staff inspect
 for compliance to align with the policy
 of the ,veterans ,health               
,administration2  7,b7 ensuring that all
 patient care areas of ,department      
medical facilities are inspected as     
required2  7,c7 clarifying the roles and
 responsibilities of ,department medical
 facility staff responsible for         
identifying and addressing compliance2  
and  7,d7 establishing a process to     

verify that noncompliance information   
reported by facilities to the ,veterans 
,health ,administration central office  
is accurate and complete4  7#b7         
,improvement of care for women  7,a7    
,monitoring of gender-specific care     
services ,to improve care for women     
veterans1 the ,secretary of ,veterans   
,affairs shall monitor women veterans'  
access to gender-specific care services 
under current and future community care 
contracts or agreements4 ,such          
monitoring shall include an examination 
of appointment scheduling and completion
 times1 driving times to appointments1  
and reasons appointments could not be   
scheduled with community providers4     
7,b7 ,definitions ,in this subparagraph3
 7i7 ,the term gender-specific care     
services means mammography1 maternity   
care1 and gynecology4  7ii7 ,the term   
community care contract or agreement    
means an agreement described in section 
#aja7;d7 of the ,veterans ,access1      
,choice1 and ,accountability ,act of    

#bjad 7,public ,law #aac-adf71 or other 
contract or agreement under which the   
,secretary furnishes hospital care and  
medical treatment to veterans at        
non-,department of ,veterans ,affairs   
health care facilities4  #f4            
,improvement of delivery of care at     
,department of ,veterans ,affairs       
medical facilities  7a7 ,wait times ,the
 ,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs shall 
clearly identify measures for wait times
 for medical appointments in ,department
 of ,veterans ,affairs medical          
facilities in a manner that reduces the 
likelihood of an individual             
misinterpreting such measures4  7b7     
,scheduling ,the ,secretary shall ensure
 that the term patient indicated date is
 clearly defined for purposes of the    
scheduling policy of the ,veterans      
,health ,administration and in related  
training documents4 ,the ,secretary     
shall take such steps as may be         
necessary to ensure such term is        
correctly implemented by employees who  

perform scheduling functions4  7c7      
,staff availability  7#a7 ,allocation2  
scheduling ,the ,secretary shall develop
 a policy requiring ,department of      
,veterans ,affairs medical facilities to
 routinely assess the scheduling needs  
and resources required to ensure that   
employees of such facilities are        
allocated in such a manner as to        
adequately respond to the demand for    
scheduling medical appointments4  7#b7  
,recruitment and retention ,the         
,secretary shall develop a strategy to  
improve recruitment and retention of    
,department of ,veterans ,affairs       
medical providers and employees who     
perform scheduling functions for        
,department medical facilities4 ,such   
strategy shall be designed to ensure    
adequate staffing of ,department medical
 facilities and shall emphasize         
recruitment and retention in facilities 
located in rural areas4  7d7 ,telephone 
access ,the ,secretary shall-- 7#a7     
ensure that all ,department medical     

facilities provide oversight of         
telephone access and implement the best 
practices outlined in the ,department   
#bjae ,telephone ,access and ,contact   
,management ,improvement ,guide1 or a   
successor guide2 and  7#b7 identify     
medical facilities that are using       
outdated telephone technology and       
replace such technology with new systems
 designed to improve telephone service  
and access to health care4  #g4 ,annual 
report regarding the recruitment1       
hiring1 and retention of nurses for the 
,veterans ,health ,administration  7a7  
,report required ,not later than one    
year after the date of the enactment of 
this ,act and annually thereafter1 the  
,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs shall  
publish and submit to the ,committees on
 ,veterans' ,affairs of the ,senate and 
the ,house of ,representatives a report 
regarding efforts to recruit1 hire1 and 
retain nurses for the ,veterans ,health 
,administration4  7b7 ,elements ,the    
report under subsection 7a7 shall       

include details relating to-- 7#a7      
efforts to recruit1 hire1 and retain    
nurses at each medical facility of the  
,department2  7#b7 resources provided by
 the ,secretary to recruit1 hire1 and   
retain nurses for the ,veterans ,health 
,administration2 and  7#c7              
recommendations for legislation the     
,secretary considers appropriate4  #h4  
,reinstatement of reporting requirement 
regarding the ,department of ,veterans  
,affairs ,health ,professionals         
,educational ,assistance ,program       
,section #cjjc7;a77#a7 of the ,federal  
,reports ,elimination and ,sunset ,act  
of #aiie 7,public ,law #ajd-ff2 #ca     
,u4,s4,c4 #aaac note7 shall not apply to
 the report required under section #gfcb
 of title #ch1 ,united ,states ,code4