Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin said Wednesday that his department is in "critical condition and requires intensive care," but has been improving after multiple scandals in recent years.
"Though we are taking immediate and decisive steps stabilizing the organization, Shulkin said during his "State of the VA" speech assessing the condition of the Veterans Affairs Department, "we are still in critical condition and require intensive care."
Shulkin, speaking at the White House after completing his first 100 days as VA secretary, laid out his goals for the future of the department, noting it will face these challenges "head on."
"Our veterans and their families have benefited from our early success," Shulkin said, "but have suffered due to the failures of the past to affect real change. My goal is to address these challenges head on."
A "soft launch" of a hotline for veterans, which Trump promised during his campaign, will begin on Thursday with hopes of being fully operational by Aug. 15.
"Twenty veterans a day are dying by suicide. This should be unacceptable to all of us … We are also launching a new initiative this summer—Getting to Zero—to help us end veteran suicide," Shulkin said. "This is my top clinical priority."
Shulkin added that accountability at the VA is broken, saying the Senate needs to pass legislation to more easily fire employees. He cited cases in which VA employees who watched porn at work or were convicted of DUI are still employed.
"We currently have around 1,500 disciplinary actions pending, meaning we are paying people who need to be fired, demoted, or suspended without pay for violating our core values," he said. "Our employee accountability processes are clearly broken."
Shulkin also noted the VA's lack of ability to retain and recruit critical nursing positions. He also addressed buildings falling into disrepair and 14 of them having below acceptable ratings. Currently, there are over 90,000 disability claims taking more than 125 days to process, according to Shulkin.
"Our goal is to cut this time by 50 percent over the next two years," he said.
Shulkin said he remains confident that he will be able to turn the serious issues plaguing the VA around and give veterans and their families the care they deserve.