I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3558 
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make certain improvements 
relating to inspections of Department of Veterans Affairs medical facili-
ties and improving care for women. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 28, 2017 
Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana (for herself and Mrs. MURPHY of Florida) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make certain 
improvements relating to inspections of Department of 
Veterans Affairs medical facilities and improving care 
for women. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improve Access to 
Care for Our Female Veterans Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find-
ings: 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:39 Aug 10, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3558.IH
H3558
dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
(1) The Department of Veterans Affairs has 
policies in place to help ensure the privacy, safety, 
and dignity of women veterans when they receive 
care at its medical facilities. 
(2) A Government Accountability Office report 
found many instances of noncompliance with such 
policies. 
(3) Women veterans are the fastest growing co-
hort within the veteran community. 
(4) Women serve in every branch of the Armed 
Forces and represent nearly 15 percent of the mem-
bers of the Armed Forces currently serving on active 
duty and 18 percent of members of the National 
Guard and reserve components. 
(5) The number of women veterans using the 
medical care provided by the Department of Vet-
erans Affairs is expected to increase dramatically. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that— 
(1) female veterans are put at risk by a system 
that is currently designed for men; and 
(2) the Department of Veterans Affairs should 
follow through with commitments to ensure female 
veterans can access services tailored to their needs. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:39 Aug 10, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3558.IH
H3558
dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
SEC. 3. IMPROVEMENT OF INSPECTIONS OF DEPARTMENT 
OF VETERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL FACILITIES 
AND IMPROVEMENT OF CARE FOR WOMEN 
PROVIDED BY DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 
AFFAIRS. 
(a) IMPROVEMENT OF INSPECTIONS PROCESS.—The 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall strengthen the environ-
ment of care inspections process and oversight of such 
process by— 
(1) expanding the list of requirements that fa-
cility staff inspect for compliance to align with the 
women’s health handbook of the Veterans Health 
Administration; 
(2) ensuring that all patient care areas of De-
partment medical facilities are inspected as required; 
(3) clarifying the roles and responsibilities of 
Department medical facility staff responsible for 
identifying and addressing compliance; and 
(4) establishing a process to verify that non-
compliance information reported by facilities to the 
Veterans Health Administration central office is ac-
curate and complete. 
(b) IMPROVEMENT OF CARE FOR WOMEN.— 
(1) MONITORING OF SEX-SPECIFIC CARE SERV-
ICES.—To improve care for women veterans, the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall monitor women 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:39 Aug 10, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3558.IH
H3558
dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
veterans’ access to sex-specific care services under 
current and future community care contracts. Such 
monitoring shall include an examination of appoint-
ment scheduling and completion times, driving times 
to appointments, and reasons appointments could 
not be scheduled with community providers. 
(2) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
(A) The term ‘‘sex-specific care services’’ 
means mammography, maternity care, and gyn-
ecology. 
(B) The term ‘‘community care contract’’ 
means an agreement described in section 
101(d) of the Veterans Access, Choice, and Ac-
countability Act of 2014 (Public Law 113– 
146). 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:39 Aug 10, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H3558.IH
H3558
dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS