Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Ill., warned that workforce reductions and spending cuts at the Department of Veterans Affairs could hinder efforts to deploy its Oracle Health electronic health record system, Nextgov/FCW reported May 1.
Ms. Budzinski, the top Democrat on the House Veterans’ Affairs Technology Modernization Subcommittee, said staffing shortages and IT budget reductions may derail the VA’s modernization push. The department paused most EHR deployments in 2023 following safety and usability concerns and plans to resume deployments at 13 sites by 2026.
The VA has proposed eliminating up to 83,000 positions and canceling some contracts, including those tied to the EHR project. Ms. Budzinski said the move is compounding existing staffing gaps; the department reported 40,000 vacancies last year.
She also raised concerns about the impact of cuts on the VA’s research efforts, where more than half of the 6,500 researchers are term-limited employees. Ms. Budzinski and nine other Democratic lawmakers recently urged VA Secretary Denis McDonough to provide details on how layoffs will affect research programs.
The VA signed a $10 billion contract — later revised to over $16 billion — with Cerner in May 2018. Oracle acquired Cerner in 2022 and renamed the EHR system Oracle Health.
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