**NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP COUNCIL MINUTES**

Boston, Massachusetts

October 3-5, 2007

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***Co-Chairs:***

***Alma L. Lee, President, AFGE-NVAC***

***Labor Co-Chair***

***Meghan Serwin Flanz, DAS for LMR***

***Management Co-Chair***

**OCTOBER 3, 2007**

**[Welcome and Introductions]{.underline}**

Meghan Flanz, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Labor-Management Relations
(LMR), welcomed the group and introduced LMR consultant Denise
Biaggi-Ayer, along with J.D. Dominick and Tawn White, two interns who
are rotating through LMR. The NPC members present were:

Meghan Flanz

Alberta Franklin

Walt Hall

Alma Lee

Claudia Moore

Christine Polnak

Robert Redding

Alice Staggs

Richard Thomesen

Bruce Triplett

Dick Wannemacher

Bill Wetmore

Donna Terrell

Rosell Knight

**[Secret Shopper Presentation]{.underline}**

Ken Piazza and Joan Van Ripper from VHA reported on their Customer
Service Program, which they called "Fresh Eyes on Service." The program
is not finalized but the objectives are to encourage compassion; help
facility leaders see customer experience as a whole experience; and for
employees to recognize what the customer sees from when they arrive to
when they leave the facility. The program used to be named
"Secret/Mystery Shopper Program" but the name is being reconsidered
because of the negative connotations that the word "secret" and
"mystery" might have. The program does not have a definitive name yet.

The "Fresh Eyes" program takes a snapshot from a customer's point of
view and evaluates service performance. It attempts to make employees
aware of what is important to customers. One of its primary goals is to
reinforce and acknowledge stellar customer service by employees. A motto
of this program is to focus on "shopping for the positives". It is
conducted by "shoppers" going into VA Medical Centers and Satellite
Outpatient Centers to observe customer service. The "shopper" will
identify and share successful practices observed. Opportunities for
improvement will also be identified; however, the only time an
individual employee will be identified in a report is when he or she
does something positive. There will be a limited announcement before a
visit and specific reports go to facility Directors. The general
implementation targets are 30% of facilities completed by the end of FY
2008 and 100% of facilities completed by the end of FY 2009.

The presentation ended with a Q & A session where input was solicited
from the Council to improve the program before implementation. The
following are comments and input provided by the Council:

**[FAQs]{.underline}**

1.  Will there be a pilot of the program?

2.  How can I be selected to be a "mystery shopper"?

3.  Will this program be implemented in VBA?

4.  A suggested name for "secret shopper" was Service Observer (Secret
    Observer)

5.  The changing names of the program might be confusing.

6.  Will patients that will potentially be shadowed be interviewed
    before and after their participation?

7.  Will there be a standard way of reporting results?

**[NCA Updates]{.underline}**

Dick Wannemacher, Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs,
reported that the NCA is the first administration to have a customer
satisfaction rating of over 95%. In addition, NCA received an e-mail
from the special assistant to the Secretary, complimenting their
efforts. The NCA reported a high retention rate, with the average
employee having 30 years of service. The budget for 2008 is more than
what was previously anticipated, and the 2009 budget is coming along.
There will be \$32 million appropriated to states that do not have as
many veteran cemeteries. At the present time, there are 125 cemeteries
in the NCA system and there will be 131 by the end of 2008. All
cemeteries will be complete by January 2009. Philadelphia is the only
acquisition that is not complete because of discussions regarding the
location of a future cemetery.

**[HR Update: USA Staffing]{.underline}**

Willie Hensley, VA's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Resources
Management and Labor Relations, reported on recent activities on the USA
Staffing system. USA Staffing is an automated process that enables HR
staff to recruit, notify candidates of the job process, and issue
certificates electronically. The system will make the hiring process
faster and more effective. It will allow the VA to catch up to other
agencies in the recruiting game. Forty (40) other Federal agencies are
already using this technology. Leveraging technology, such as USA
Staffing, helps the VA recruit from a broader and more talented
applicant pool. The VA wants to implement education and training on the
USA Staffing system. The Office of Human Resources Management has an
enterprise license agreement with OPM for 270 HR users for the
first-year, and up to 800 HR users by the third implementation year. The
Agency is currently using USA Staffing for non-bargaining unit
employees.

**[VHA Update]{.underline}**

Bruce Triplett, the Director of the VA Medical Center in Fayetteville,
NC, reported on the recent activities in VHA. Mr. Triplett announced
that the FY 2008 Spending Bill has been approved by the Senate. VHA is
implementing the Mental Health Environment of Care Checklist for Locked
Units. VHA received a substantial amount of money for mental health. The
question stemming from this is where VHA will put all the new people
hired to cover mental health services. Mr. Triplett explained that VHA
has established a Suicide Prevention Hotline and Suicide Prevention
Coordinators are being hired system-wide. VHA has added a 5^th^
Polytrauma center in San Antonio, TX and is looking to fill clinical
application coordinator positions.

**OCTOBER 4, 2007**

**[VBA Update]{.underline}**

Donna Terrell, Director of the Buffalo, NY VBA Regional Office, reported
on the significant growth on the disability claims workload and the
increasingly complex nature of the claims in VBA. The number of veterans
filing initial disability compensation claims for increased benefits has
increased every year since FY 2000. Disability claims increased 38%
between FY 2000 and FY 2006. . Disability claims have significantly
increased in 2007 and are expected to continue in 2008.

The primary factors leading to the sustained high level of claims
activity are: Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring
Freedom (OEF); the addition of type II diabetes as an Agent Orange
presumptive disability; more beneficiaries on the rolls with resulting
additional claims for increased benefits; improved and expanded outreach
to active-duty service members, guard, and reserve personnel, survivors,
and veterans of earlier conflicts; and, implementation of Combat Related
Special Compensation (CRSC) and Concurrent Disability and Retire Pay
(CDRP) programs by the Department of Defense.

The increase in claims receipts is not the only factor changing VA's
claims processing environment. Additional challenges to timely
processing of VBA claims are: the greater number of disabilities
veterans now claim; the increasing complexity of the disabilities being
claimed; changes in law; and, Court decisions affecting VA's decision
making process. The trend toward increasingly complex and
difficult-to-rate claims is expected to continue for the foreseeable
future.

At the end of August 2007, VBA's pending inventory of rating related
claims was 396,664, and the average processing time was 182.6 days. VBA
provided veterans decisions on more than 774,000 disability claims in FY
2006. Through August 2007, VBA had completed 749,894 decisions, which
represent an increase in productivity of over 7 percent, compared to the
same time period in 2006. Between April and August 2007, VBA processed
more claims than in any five-month period on record.

VBA has added more than 1,100 new employees since January 2007 and will
add a total of 3,100 by the end of FY 2008. Currently there are 12, 800
VBA field employees and 14, 400 total VBA employees. Ms. Terrell
stressed the importance of being patient with new employees. New
employees are not going to be proficient immediately. They need to be
trained and VBA is doing its best with this by training new employees at
its training academy in Baltimore.

About five years ago, VBA centralized pension maintenance operations to
three Pension Maintenance Centers (PMCs). In the coming year VBA plans
to gain additional processing efficiencies by centralizing all
compensation and general assistance telephone calls to nine Virtual
Information Call Centers (VICCs). Limiting telephone customer service to
dedicated call centers will free-up employees to focus on claims
processing.

**[Nursing Issues Update]{.underline}**

Rosell Knight reported on behalf of the Office of Nursing Services.

Ms. Knight explained the role of Nurse Professional Standards Boards
(NPSB). The NPSB participates in the following activities:

-   Probationary reviews after 1^st^ and 2^nd^ year of employment.

-   Special Advancement Performance (SAP) -- achievement & promotions.

-   Summary Review Boards -- when recommendation has been made to remove
    employees.

**\***[Question]{.underline}**:** What is an Emergent Basis?

-   Defined by individual facilities.

**\***[Question]{.underline}: How many facilities are doing the
Alternative Work Schedule (AWS) 36/40?

-   There is currently no data being collected on the 36/40 AWS.

-   All units are very interested in offering 36/40 to the nurses.

-   It is unclear how many stations are offering the 36/40 AWS. Some
    stations are initiating pilots. The difficulty is with DFAS
    (payroll).

[Subject]{.underline}: GS-7 grade level for LPNs.

-   There have not been as many promotions to GS-7 as had been
    anticipated.

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-   The criteria for GS-7 is complex care, there has to be no RN
    supervisors in the work area. Unfortunately, VHA does not have a lot
    of positions that meet the criteria.

-   A lot of the GS-7 nurses are in long-term care. They are being
    boarded by the VISN.

[Subject:]{.underline} Saturday Premium Pay

When nurses work Saturdays with no established tour of duty, they cannot
get paid Saturday Premium Pay. A Saturday tour needs to be established
to get Saturday Premium Pay. The VA Central Office has provided guidance
on the criteria to determine whether a tour of duty needs to be
established.

[Subject:]{.underline} Nurse Traveling Corps

The Nurse Traveling Corps has selected a new Director, Jackie Jackson,
from the Las Vegas VA Medical Center. The corps will be run from
Phoenix, AZ. A Human Resources representative has been selected. It has
not been determined when the program will be operational. Once the
program has been implemented, orientation and training will be held in
Phoenix. The Nurse Traveling Corps has already decided on the minimum
time nurses will be in certain locations, but the details are unknown at
this time.

**[Management Analysis/Business Process Reengineering
(MA/BPR)]{.underline}**

Mr. Aubrey Weekes joined the meeting over the phone to determine whether
there was consensus with the proposed language in the MA/BPR draft
"Statement of Shared Goals."

The idea behind the document is to provide information to the field on
the goals and objectives of MA/BPR. The developed document is a
discussion draft. The document needs to be clear and not misleading. The
union members were concerned about lack of union involvement in the
implementation teams. Mr. Weekes explained that the unions are not
involved in the National Steering Committee because the Committee only
checks and reviews the studies of laundries and food service. The
studies are done at the local level.

Some of the union members were concerned about not being involved in the
analysis stage of the process. Union involvement was determined to be
too late in the process. The union members did not agree to sign the
"Statement of Shared Goals" document.

**[Occupational health Q & A]{.underline}**

[]{.mark}

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Dr. Michael Hodgson, Director for Occupational Health Programs, briefed
the Council in a Q & A discussion session. The Council inquired about
whether or not hospitals can bill employees for acute care services that
are not work related, such as a sick call. Dr. Hodgson responded by
saying that it depended on the policy of the particular facility. On the
topic of acute care services, Dr. Hodgson responded to inquiries about
electrocardiograms (EKG's) and stress tests. In the opinion of Dr.
Hodgson, stress tests were far more beneficial than EKG's. Patients with
chest pains who have taken stress tests have a significantly lower death
rate than those patients who do not. Stress tests can identify patients
with underlying coronary artery disease. EKG's cannot accomplish this
because they do not do a good job of identifying underlying cardiac
abnormalities. Basically, EKG's can only identify patients who are
having heart attacks and it fails to identify patients who have
significant hidden coronary problems due to stress. Patients with these
hidden problems are often sent home because they appear normal after a
healthy EKG reading. Dr. Hodgson talked about the need for employees to
intervene when it comes to heart disease. A pilot program on heart
disease is being tested in various cities across the country. In
conclusion, Dr. Hodgson stressed the importance for VA employees to have
a copy of the health guidelines.

**[NPC Strategic Planning]{.underline}**:

The "VA National Partnership Council Strategic Plan" was discussed and
changes were made to the document. Further discussion is needed to
finalize the Plan. As part of the discussion, the Council decided that
the final Plan should be added to the Transition Book given to the new
Secretary of the VA. Once finalized, a copy of the Plan will be added to
the Office of Labor Management Relations (LMR) website, available at
[www.va.gov/lmr](http://www.va.gov/lmr).

The Council discussed the process of how to decide whether to accept
local requests for NPC assistance. Further discussions are needed. The
Council also discussed the option of developing a letter to the
facilities being visited, to introduce the NPC; possibly invite union
and management members to participate in the meetings; and, to offer NPC
assistance in cases where the management and union relationship is
broken. Further discussions are needed.

**[Office of Information and Technology (OIT)]{.underline}**

Bob Howard, Assistant Secretary for OI&T, and K. Adair Martinez, Deputy
Assistant Secretary for Information Protection and Risk Management
provided an update on OIT initiatives.

Mr. Howard discussed the OIT SOP for Employee Recognition and Awards
Program. The program's objective is to recognize end of year performance
while allowing for special incentive awards denoting individual and
group accomplishments throughout the year.

The VA selected Dell to provide PC lease and vendor services. The VA has
approximately 250,000 desktop systems that will be replaced over the
next three years. OIT has developed a list of sites that will receive
the equipment. There will be pilot sites related to this initiative. The
pilot will start in January. The Dell Lease Contract was thoroughly
discussed and Mr. Howard explained that the Dell people will have some
support requirements but the OIT support staff will continue their
support work. There will always be an OIT employee accompanying any Dell
employee that comes to the VA to provide support. In fact, OIT will be
hiring 995 new employees by FY 2008.

Mr. Howard discussed the addition to all computers of the Windows Rights
Management Server (RMS). RMS helps ensure that private information is
kept private by encrypting message content and controlling what
authorized recipients can do with the information, such as copy and
paste, print and forward e-mails.

VA Handbook/Directive 6500, Information Security Program has been
implemented. The Handbook includes the VA National Rules of Behavior
(RoB) which defines specific VA information and information system
responsibilities. The additional information contained in the document
comes from other Handbooks and Directives that were revised and
incorporated into the documents. One example is VA Directive 6601,
Removable Storage Media, which has been rescinded and incorporated into
6500.

OIT also developed and is in the process of implementing VA Directive
6609, Mailing of Personally Identifiable and sensitive Information. The
policy's objective is to protect personally identifiable information and
other sensitive agency information transmitted through the mail.

**[NPC Discussion]{.underline}**

The Council decided that the next meeting in January 2008 will be held
in Phoenix, AZ. The office of LMR will add the "Statement from the VA
NPC Endorsing Expansion of the Violence Prevention Pilot" and The
"Statement from the VA NPC Endorsing ADR Efforts in the Department of
Veterans Affairs" to their website. There was discussion on whether the
NPC should send participants formal recommendations on discussed
initiatives. Further discussion is needed. The Council recommended that
Ray Tober be invited to every NPC meeting to provide an update on the
Canteen new initiatives.

**[Canteen Service Update]{.underline}**

Ray Tober, Associate Director for the Veterans Canteen Service (VCS)
provided an update. VCS has a new Director that has provided great new
ideas and programs. These new initiatives seek to improve VA services
through continual learning and growth. VSC has stepped up efforts to
measure customer satisfaction through employee surveys. Mr. Tober also
announced that VCS has opened up a learning University in San Antonio.
At this learning facility, VCS employees will be given technical
training as well as training in management and leadership skills. This
is a great way for VCS to identify individuals with the potential for
quick upward mobility. VCS is attempting to get more managers from
within the VA. The goal is to attain a 50/50 split of managers from
outside and inside the VCS.

Mr. Tober reported that the Canteen stores will unveil a new look in the
future. By the end of next year, every Canteen store will have new
hardwood floors. The merchandising strategy for Canteen stores has also
shifted. VA customers across the nation will now see more products
tailored to their specific location. Director Iverson has traveled to
103 Canteens across the country and noticed that not all the stores were
fully stocked with merchandise when they opened in the morning. The
Director has made it a priority to have every Canteen store fully
stocked each and every morning. VCS has created an All Employee Survey
that measured employee satisfaction. In November 2007, VCS will unveil
its Champions Challenge as part of its National Wellness Initiative.
Employees are given the challenge of walking or jogging 100 miles in 100
days. As a special part of the promotion, 12 successful participants
will be selected to be placed on Cheerio boxes that will be sold in
military stores across the country. VCS also introduced a new employee
payroll deduction Gold Card. If an employee spends \$1,200 in a calendar
year, he or she will receive a free lunch on his or her birthday.
Currently, there are 54,000 participants enrolled in payroll deductions.
As an added bonus, anyone who gets a friend to enroll in the program
will receive a \$20 gift certificate.