Title: Enhancing Veteran Care Act
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
Enhancing Veteran Care Act
This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to contract with a nonprofit organization that accredits health care organizations and programs in the United States to investigate a VA medical center to assess and report deficiencies of the center's facilities.
The VA shall delegate such authority to the Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) in which the medical center is located or to the director of such medical center.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1266 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1266

To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to enter into contracts 
  with nonprofit organizations to investigate medical centers of the 
                    Department of Veterans Affairs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 25, 2017

  Mr. Inhofe (for himself and Mr. Lankford) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to enter into contracts 
  with nonprofit organizations to investigate medical centers of the 
                    Department of Veterans Affairs.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Enhancing Veteran Care Act''.

SEC. 2. INVESTIGATION OF MEDICAL CENTERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 
              AFFAIRS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs may contract 
with a nonprofit organization that accredits health care organizations 
and programs in the United States to investigate a medical center of 
the Department of Veterans Affairs to assess and report deficiencies of 
the facilities at such medical center.
    (b) Authority of Directors.--
            (1) In general.--Subject to coordination under paragraph 
        (2), the Secretary shall delegate the authority under 
        subsection (a) to contract for an investigation at a medical 
        center of the Department to the Director of the Veterans 
        Integrated Service Network in which the medical center is 
        located or the director of such medical center.
            (2) Coordination.--Before entering into a contract under 
        paragraph (1), the Director of a Veterans Integrated Service 
        Network or the director of a medical center, as the case may 
        be, shall notify the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the 
        Inspector General of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and 
        the Comptroller General of the United States for purposes of 
        coordinating any investigation conducted pursuant to such 
        contract with any other investigations that may be ongoing.
    (c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be 
construed--
            (1) to prevent the Office of the Inspector General of the 
        Department of Veterans Affairs from conducting any review, 
        audit, evaluation, or inspection regarding a topic for which an 
        investigation is conducted under this section; or
            (2) to modify the requirement that employees of the 
        Department assist with any review, audit, evaluation, or 
        inspection conducted by the Office of the Inspector General of 
        the Department.
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