Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins heaped praise upon San Diego's VA medical center and downplayed the concerns of some veterans advocates about a slew of Trump administration changes at the agency Tuesday.
Collins was in San Diego to tour the medical center and recognize some long-serving staff.
During a short speech he called the VA San Diego Health System one of the "top five" in the entire VA.
"We have 170 VAMCs across the country," Collins said. "This is one in which we can point to and say, 'this is one that is doing it right — this is one that actually is getting a lot done.'"
The secretary's tenure at the agency has been controversial. Earlier this year, he announced the VA would cut 80,000 jobs, sparking protests among veterans and advocates.
In July, the agency canceled its "reduction in force" plan. Instead, it announced a reduction this year of 30,000 staffers would be sufficient and avoided layoffs since those came from voluntary retirements.
Last month, the Trump administration ordered the canceling of almost all union contracts, ending the collective bargaining agreements of more than 400,000 VA employees.
National Nurses United, a union representing 16,000 VA nurses, called the move “union-busting” and accused the administration of trying to privatize veteran care.
Collins says critics are trying to mislead veterans.
"What's happened is there's a lot of folks out there who have gotten used to the system being the system," he said Tuesday. "And so they tell stories that are designed, frankly, I believe, to mislead veterans."
The VA Inspector General reported last month critical staffing shortages are up 50% from last year, with almost 80% of VA facilities reporting severe shortages of nurses.
Asked whether he thought stripping staff of their collective bargaining rights could lead to more attrition at the agency, Collins said that depends on each affected employee.
"We value our employees more than anything else," Collins said. "We want them to have a work environment in which they want to be at. So if their connection was more to the union than to the VA, then that's an issue that they would have to deal with."
Collins also talked about the VA's adaptive sports programs.
In August, the agency held its annual Summer Sports Clinic in San Diego, one of several adaptive sports events for disabled veterans held around the country.
Collins said whatever changes come to the VA, these clinics aren't going anywhere.
"We're going to be there to support that and I'm not going to let anybody take that back, because I see what the value of it is," Collins said.
