I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3978 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish an Ombudsman within 
the Veterans Health Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 5, 2015 
Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico (for herself, Mr. MCKINLEY, 
Mr. BEN RAY LUJA´N of New Mexico, and Mr. PEARCE) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish an 
Ombudsman within the Veterans Health Administration 
of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 
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 ‘‘Ensuring Fair Access 
to Veterans Healthcare Act’’. 
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSMAN. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Subchapter I of chapter 73 of 
title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following new section: 
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‘‘§ 7310. Office of the Ombudsman 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 
Veterans Health Administration an Office of the Ombuds-
man (in this section referred to as the ‘Office’). The Office 
shall be headed by an Ombudsman appointed by the Sec-
retary. The Ombudsman shall report directly to and be 
under the general supervision of the Secretary, but shall 
not report to, or be subject to supervision by, any other 
officer of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Neither the 
Secretary nor any other such officer may prevent or pro-
hibit the Ombudsman from carrying out the duties of the 
Ombudsman. 
‘‘(b) DUTIES OF OFFICE.—The Office shall carry out 
the following duties: 
‘‘(1) Identify, investigate, and resolve com-
plaints that— 
‘‘(A) are made by, or on behalf of, covered 
patients; and 
‘‘(B) relate to action, inaction, or decisions 
made by employees of the Department that may 
adversely affect the health, safety, welfare, or 
rights of covered patients. 
‘‘(2) Assist covered patients in finding patient 
advocates, veterans service organizations, or other 
similar entities to represent and advocate for the 
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health, safety, welfare, and rights of the covered pa-
tient. 
‘‘(3) Inform covered patients of the means of 
obtaining assistance described in paragraph (2). 
‘‘(4) Ensure that covered patients have regular 
and timely access to the services provided by the Of-
fice, including with respect to receiving timely re-
sponses to complaints. 
‘‘(5) Analyze, monitor, and provide comments 
and suggestions to the Secretary with respect to the 
development and implementation of actions made by 
the Secretary relating to the health, safety, welfare, 
and rights of covered patients. 
‘‘(6) Administer the reporting system described 
in subsection (d). 
‘‘(7) Provide training to local ombudsmen and 
volunteers described in subsection (c). 
‘‘(8) Other activities that the Secretary con-
siders appropriate. 
‘‘(c) LOCAL OMBUDSMEN.—(1) Using amounts oth-
erwise authorized to be appropriated for the medical facili-
ties of the Department, each medical facility shall have 
a local ombudsman responsible for carrying out the duties 
of the Office at such location. 
‘‘(2) A local ombudsman shall— 
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‘‘(A) carry out the assistance described in para-
graph (2) of subsection (b) to ensure the protection 
of the health, safety, welfare, or rights of covered 
patients; 
‘‘(B) ensure that covered patients have regular, 
timely access to the Office, including with respect to 
receiving timely responses to complaints described in 
paragraph (1) of such subsection; 
‘‘(C) identify, investigate, and determine how to 
resolve such complaints; and 
‘‘(D) train local volunteers from civic organiza-
tions to assist the local ombudsman by working di-
rectly with covered patients to develop individual ac-
tion plans relating to the health, safety, welfare, and 
rights of the covered patient. 
‘‘(d) REPORTING SYSTEM.—The Ombudsman shall 
establish and administer a uniform reporting system to 
collect and analyze data relating to complaints described 
in subsection (b)(1) in order to identify to the Secretary 
and determine how to resolve significant problems in the 
medical facilities of the Department. 
‘‘(e) COOPERATION.—The Secretary shall ensure that 
each medical facility of the Department cooperates with 
the Office in carrying out this section. 
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