U.S. veterans agency cuts 14K medical jobs amid staff shortages
NEW YORK, UNITED STATES — The United States Department of Veterans Affairs has eliminated roughly 14,400 unfilled medical positions, including more than 1,500 physician roles and 4,900 nursing jobs, even as its own leadership acknowledges persistent doctor and nurse shortages across the country’s largest integrated health system.
According to a report from The New York Times, the reductions come amid longstanding staffing challenges at the VA, where more than 90% of facilities reported “severe shortages” of doctors in 2025 and nearly 80% reported severe nursing shortages.
VA Secretary Doug Collins has repeatedly stressed the need for frontline clinicians.
“Do we need more doctors? Yes,” he told the Congress. “We’re not fully staffed, and we haven’t been for 50 years.”
At a previous news conference, he said, “I need more good doctors. I need more good nurses. I need more [people] who are taking care of people on the front line.”
Yet the agency began eliminating vacancies in November 2025, saying in an internal memo that it aimed to level-set V.A. positions to align with the budget and sustain progress made during this year’s workforce reshaping efforts.
A VA spokesman, Peter Kasperowicz, said the positions were “not needed” and that the department was “working much better under President Trump than it did under President Biden.”
Impact of U.S. VA medical staff cuts on hospital care
The VA’s workforce changes demonstrate to hospital executives that their staffing systems face fundamental operational weaknesses. The VA experienced its first staffing decline in two decades when its doctor workforce decreased by 4%, and its nursing staff decreased by 3% during 2025.
Frontline clinicians describe growing strain. Geddes Scott, a retired VA nurse, warned of burnout risks.
“You have people’s lives in your hands,” he said, recalling concerns about back-to-back shifts.
In North Chicago, registered nurse Heather Fallon said emergency department nurses are increasingly diverted from bedside care to fill support gaps.
“A lot of that is just pure secretarial work — we just don’t have anyone at the desk to do that sometimes,” she said. “We are unable to spend as much time at the bedside as we would like to.”
Mental health services have also felt the impact. After remote work ended in 2025, the VA lost about 200 psychiatrists.
“Psychiatrists have so many job opportunities,” said Dr. Kevin Rowe. “If something isn’t working, you leave.”
How healthcare outsourcing addresses clinical shortages
As staffing thins, the VA is expanding private-sector “community care,” with Collins executing a $1 trillion plan to increase veterans’ access to non-VA providers.
The new health system changes create both demanding challenges and beneficial opportunities for U.S. health systems. Community hospitals will experience increased patient referrals, whereas specialty clinics will handle additional diagnostic tests and medical procedures.
Providers can achieve operational stability through strategic outsourcing, which includes teleradiology, revenue cycle management (RCM), and clinical documentation support services.
Healthcare leaders remain actively engaged in the ongoing workforce strategy discussions conducted by policymakers. The VA system, which provides services to over 9 million veterans, extends its staffing decisions to affect every aspect of American healthcare, since those decisions create various effects on workforce patterns, referral procedures and operational systems.
