{"id":66066,"date":"2022-07-21T19:13:18","date_gmt":"2022-07-21T19:13:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/07\/21\/after-a-5-year-wait-va-gets-a-new-top-medical-leader\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T12:28:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T12:28:09","slug":"after-a-5-year-wait-va-gets-a-new-top-medical-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/veterans\/2022\/07\/21\/after-a-5-year-wait-va-gets-a-new-top-medical-leader\/","title":{"rendered":"After a 5-year wait, VA gets a new top medical leader"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After more than a five-year wait, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2022\/07\/20\/vas-16-billion-medical-records-overhaul-could-triple-in-cost\/\" target=\"_blank\">Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a> has a Senate-confirmed official leading its health care operations again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lawmakers on Thursday voted 66-23 to confirm <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2022\/05\/25\/top-va-medical-post-remains-unfilled-after-latest-senate-delay\/\" target=\"_blank\">Dr. Shereef Elnahal<\/a> as the next VA under secretary for health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNow more than ever, the Department of Veterans Affairs needs a steady hand to guide the Veterans Health Administration,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2022\/06\/27\/vas-hospital-closure-commision-wont-move-ahead-after-senators-vow-to-block-the-effort\/\" target=\"_blank\">Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee Chairman Jon Tester<\/a>, D-Montana, in a floor speech just before the vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Elnahal \u201chas an impressive record of leading health care systems and health agencies,\u201d he said. \u201cBut more importantly than that, he is committed to caring for the more than 9 million veterans currently in VA\u2019s care.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2022\/07\/20\/vas-16-billion-medical-records-overhaul-could-triple-in-cost\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Mann-Grandstaff-Department-of-Veterans-Affairs-Medical-Center-1.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">VA\u2019s $16 billion medical records overhaul could triple in cost<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">A planned deployment of the system to sites in Idaho this weekend has been delayed in response to lingering problems.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">VA\u2019s top health care post had been unfilled since early 2017, when Dr. David Shulkin stepped down from the postion to take over as secretary of the entire department. Since then, the job has been held by a series of temporary, unconfirmed executives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over the past five years, officials have convened several panels to find candidates for the post without success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">President Joe Biden nominated Elnahal in March. He currently serves as chief executive officer of University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He received largely positive reviews from Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee members during his confirmation hearing in April, but his nomination has been stalled since May after Sen. Rick Scott, R-Florida, blocked an attempt to fast-track his appointment over general concerns about Biden\u2019s nominees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The move drew the ire of Democratic leaders and VA Secretary Denis McDonough, who said Elnahal will provide valuable help with the department\u2019s electronic health records overhaul and ongoing review of medical facility infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Elnahal previously served as VA\u2019s assistant deputy under secretary for health for quality, safety and value from 2016\u20132018. During that time he co-founded the VHA Innovation Ecosystem, which focused on sharing best practices to improve veteran care.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2022\/03\/09\/white-house-names-picks-to-lead-va-health-and-benefits-efforts\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP22013823488546.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">White House names picks to lead VA health and benefits efforts<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The VA Under Secretary for Health post has been vacant for more than five years.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During his confirmation hearing, Elnahal said one of his top priorities for the job will be improving recruiting and retention for clinical care positions at the Veterans Health Administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe sacred health care mission of VA simply cannot be fulfilled without having people to do it, talented healthcare professionals who put the mission above all else,\u201d he said. \u201cSo this is a major priority for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With Thursday\u2019s vote, the department now has four of its top five leadership roles confirmed by the Senate. The only vacancy is the under secretary for benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last week, Biden\u2019s nominee for that post, Ray Jefferson, withdrew his name from consideration after a monthslong wait for action by the Senate. VA officials announced this week they have formed a new search commission to look for potential candidates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The VA\u2019s top health care post had been unfilled since early 2017.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":99276,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,23,93,12,25,68,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3334],"class_list":["post-66066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"ZCYLE7G5JBBKXPDTEO4S2TVRNE","arc_canonical_url":"\/veterans\/2022\/07\/21\/after-a-5-year-wait-va-gets-a-new-top-medical-leader\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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