VA Medical Center Recovery Act

Summary:  VA Medical Center Recovery Act (Sec. 2) This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to publish in the Federal Register and on a publicly available VA Internet website a compilation of key health metrics for each VA medical center.  The VA shall: (1) determine on a semiannual basis whether each medical center is satisfactory or underperforming; and (2) upon a determination of underperformance, send a rapid deployment team to the center to ensure that it achieves satisfactory performance as quickly as practicable. A rapid deployment team shall:  identify the areas of the medical center that require improvement and whether the center follows directives and best practices;  establish a performance remediation plan;  review the status of any disciplinary actions taken at the center, any recommendations made by the VA Inspector General, and any Government Accountability Office findings; and  provide appropriate training to the director and staff.  The Inspector General of the VA shall prioritize investigations regarding underperforming medical centers. The Office of Accountability Review shall prioritize investigations of whistleblower retaliation regarding underperforming medical centers. (Sec. 3) The VA shall seek to enter into partnerships with recognized schools of nursing to provide undergraduate nursing students enrolled in such schools with standardized training with respect to:   the culture of the military and veterans;  post-traumatic stress disorder;  traumatic brain injury;  amputation and assistive devices;  environmental, chemical, and toxic exposure;  substance use disorders;  military sexual trauma;  suicide;  homelessness;  serious illness at the end of life; and  federal benefits, services, and resources for veterans.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``VA Medical Center Recovery Act''.

SEC. 2. EVALUATION AND IMPROVEMENT OF MEDICAL CENTERS.

    (a) Underperforming Medical Centers.--
            (1) In general.--Chapter 73 of title 38, United States 
        Code, is amended by inserting after section 7311A the following 
        new section:
``Sec. 7311B. Evaluation and improvement of medical centers
    ``(a) Identification of Underperforming Medical Centers.--(1) Not 
later than 15 days after the end of each fiscal quarter, the Secretary 
shall publish in the Federal Register and on a publically available, 
searchable Internet website of the Department a compilation of key 
health metrics for each medical center of the Department.
    ``(2) On a semiannual basis, the Secretary shall determine, under 
the key health metrics, whether each medical center of the Department 
is satisfactory or underperforming.
    ``(b) Rapid Deployment Teams.--(1) Not later than 30 days after the 
date on which the Secretary identifies a medical center as an 
underperforming medical center under subsection (a)(2), the Secretary 
shall deploy a rapid deployment team to the medical center to ensure 
that the medical center achieves satisfactory performance as quickly as 
practicable.
    ``(2) Each rapid deployment team deployed to an underperforming 
medical center under paragraph (1) shall--
            ``(A) identify the areas of the medical center that require 
        improvement, including with respect to the procedures of the 
        medical center, inefficiencies of the medical center, and 
        whether the medical center follows directives and best 
        practices;
            ``(B) establish a remediation plan to improve the 
        performance of the medical center;
            ``(C) review and assesses the status of any--
                    ``(i) disciplinary actions taken at the medical 
                center;
                    ``(ii) recommendations made by the Inspector 
                General of the Department applicable to the medical 
                center; and
                    ``(iii) findings made by the Comptroller General of 
                the United States applicable to the medical center; and
            ``(D) provide training to the director and staff of the 
        medical center with respect to carrying out such improvements.
    ``(3) The Secretary shall ensure that--
            ``(A) the director of each underperforming medical center 
        carries out the remediation plan under paragraph (2)(B); and
            ``(B) the rapid deployment team has access to all 
        facilities and all electronic systems, records, reports, 
        audits, reviews, documents, papers, or other materials the 
        rapid deployment team determines necessary to carry out this 
        subsection.
    ``(4) Each rapid deployment team deployed to an underperforming 
medical center under paragraph (1) shall consist of--
            ``(A) subject matter experts with experience in--
                    ``(i) customer service training;
                    ``(ii) increasing the efficiency of organizations;
                    ``(iii) clinical care specific to the areas in 
                which the underperforming medical center requires 
                improvement; and
                    ``(iv) any other areas that the Secretary 
                determines appropriate to improve the underperforming 
                medical center; and
            ``(B) an employee of the Office of the Inspector General of 
        the Department.
    ``(5) To the extent practicable, each rapid deployment team shall 
include process improvement subject matter experts from the Veterans 
Experience Office of the Department.
    ``(6) The Secretary shall determine the duration of the deployment 
of a rapid deployment team under paragraph (1).
    ``(c) Investigations and Whistleblower Protections.--(1) The 
Inspector General of the Department shall prioritize investigations 
relating to underperforming medical centers.
    ``(2) The Office of Accountability Review shall prioritize 
investigations of whistleblower retaliation relating to underperforming 
medical centers.
    ``(d) Quarterly Reports.--On a quarterly basis, the Secretary shall 
submit to Congress a report that includes, with respect to the quarter 
covered by the report--
            ``(1) each identification of an underperforming medical 
        center made by the Secretary;
            ``(2) the actions taken by the Secretary and rapid 
        deployment teams with respect to improving underperforming 
        medical centers; and
            ``(3) an update on any progress made by each 
        underperforming medical center, including whether the 
        underperforming medical center is carrying out the remediation 
        plan pursuant to subsection (b)(3)(A).
    ``(e) Relationship to Quality Assurance and National Quality 
Management Officer.--The requirements of this section are in addition 
to any requirements under sections 7311 and 7311A of this title.
    ``(f) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) The term `underperforming medical center' means a 
        medical center of the Department that the Secretary determines 
        is underperforming under subsection (a)(2).
            ``(2) The term `key health metrics' means the following:
                    ``(A) The Strategic Analytics Improvement and 
                Learning (commonly referred to as `SAIL') data used by 
                the Department (or such successor data metric).
                    ``(B) An evaluation system established by the 
                Secretary based on the total data described in 
                subparagraph (A) to determine whether the performance 
                of a medical center is satisfactory or underperforming 
                and requires remediation pursuant to this section.''.
            (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the 
        beginning of chapter 73 of such title is amended by adding 
        after the item relating to section 7311A the following new 
        item:

``7311B. Evaluation and improvement of medical centers''.
    (b) Initial Key Health Metrics Publication.--The Secretary shall 
publish the initial key health metrics under section 7311B(a)(1) of 
title 38, United States Code, as added by subsection (a)(1), by not 
later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (c) Initial Identification of an Underperforming Medical Center.--
The Secretary shall make the initial identifications under section 
7311B(a)(2) of title 38, United States Code, as added by subsection 
(a)(1), by not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of 
this Act.

SEC. 3. STANDARDIZED TRAINING FOR NURSES.

    (a) Training.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall seek to 
enter into partnerships with recognized schools of nursing to provide 
undergraduate nursing students enrolled in such schools with 
standardized training with respect to the following:
            (1) The culture of the military and veterans.
            (2) Post-traumatic stress disorder.
            (3) Traumatic brain injury.
            (4) Amputation and assistive devices.
            (5) Environmental, chemical, and toxic exposure.
            (6) Substance use disorders.
            (7) Military sexual trauma.
            (8) Suicide.
            (9) Homelessness.
            (10) Serious illness at the end of life.
            (11) Benefits, services, and resources for veterans that 
        are administered by the Federal Government.
    (b) Development.--In developing the training under subsection (a), 
the Secretary shall consult with appropriate accrediting bodies, 
schools of nursing, and industry leaders.

            Passed the House of Representatives February 9, 2016.

            Attest:

                                                 KAREN L. HAAS,

                                                                 Clerk.