Sec. 313. Improvement of capital asset staffing of Department of Veterans Affairs
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Not later than 540 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall ensure that the Department of Veterans Affairs has dedicated offices or entities and sufficient staff, including at each medical center of the Department, to conduct relevant critical responsibilities for the life-cycle of capital asset management at the local, regional, and central office level. The requirement for offices or entities and sufficient staff under subparagraph
(A)may include ensuring such mix as the Secretary considers appropriate of personnel with duties from the following categories: Facility planning. Long-range capital planning. Management of projects and capital assets relating to the execution of major construction projects, minor construction projects, major leases, minor leases, nonrecurring maintenance, and related matters at medical centers and facilities of the Department in the surrounding catchment areas of those centers and facilities. Property disposal or transfer, environmental remediation, and historic preservation. Engineering, including matters relating to seismic repairs and projects. Maintenance and repair of existing infrastructure. The collection of views of veterans and employees of the Department to understand the capital assets needs of the Department. Other relevant functions relating to the full life-cycle of capital asset management of the Department, as determined by the Secretary. To the greatest extent practicable, the Secretary shall ensure that each of the categories of duties under paragraph (1)(B) are assigned to a different individual or group of individuals so as— to organize common work in a cohesive manner; and not to overburden a small number of individuals with such requirements. Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall— designate one individual as the lead senior official responsible for integration and coordination of, and accountability for, the evaluation of the capital asset workforce needs of the Department, to include the workforce staffing model established under paragraph (4), and the ongoing implementation and monitoring of actions to ensure adequate capital asset staffing across the Department, including those at the field, regional, and central offices of the Veterans Health Administration, the National Cemetery Administration, the Veterans Benefits Administration, and the Office of Acquisition, Logistics, and Construction; and notify the appropriate committees of Congress who have been designated under subparagraph (A). Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish a staffing model for the relevant administrations, staff offices, and other elements of the Department to carry out paragraph
(1)that— ensures a minimum base level of capital asset staffing; and is adjusted based on the volume and complexity of capital asset work of a particular facility, catchment area, region, or central office responsibility. The Secretary shall update the staffing model under subparagraph
(A)regularly to ensure it is effective in carrying out paragraph (1). In the case of a State or territory of the United States in which the Department does not operate a full-service medical center, the Secretary shall, in carrying out paragraph (1), ensure, to the greatest extent practicable, that the Department has a dedicated office or entity and sufficient staff at the largest medical facility of the Department in that State or territory, and any reference in this section to a medical center shall be deemed to be a reference to that medical facility. The purpose of this subsection is to ensure that field, regional, and central offices of the Department of Veterans Affairs have an appropriately sized and credentialed capital asset workforce to allow for efficient and effective execution of their relevant segment of capital asset work. Nothing in this subsection is intended to mandate a realignment of capital asset workforce roles, responsibilities, and reporting structures. The Secretary shall ensure that appropriate professional certifications, educational background, and other qualifications are in effect for individuals employed in a position at a dedicated office or entity required by subsection
(a)to manage the duties under the categories set forth under subsection (a)(1)(B). The duties of a dedicated office or entity required by subsection
(a)at a medical center of the Department may include such combination of the following duties as the Secretary considers appropriate to achieve efficient and effective capital asset management and performance as it pertains to relevant activities at the field level: The development, monitoring, and implementation of capital asset objectives for the catchment area surrounding the medical center, including community-based outpatient clinics and other sites of care of the Department in that area. The coordination of capital asset management and planning with counterparts at other medical centers of the Department in the region and facility planners for the Veterans Integrated Service Network or Networks in the region. Effective delivery of capital asset projects. Maintenance and repair of infrastructure. Capital asset disposal or transfer, environmental remediation, and historic preservation. Regularly monitoring state-of-the-art best practices in health care capital asset delivery and management. Constantly monitoring the needs of veterans and employees of the Department as it relates to medical space and services at the medical center and facilities in the catchment area surrounding the medical center to forward plan and identify and submit plans, through processes of the Department, to meet those needs, including by formulating local and regional capital improvement and asset management plans for medical facilities of the Department through the regular collection of— views and expectations of veterans, including as expressed by relevant local or national veterans service organizations, in that area who are eligible users of health care and related services provided by the Department with respect to— preferences and needs of those veterans for the care received from medical facilities of the Department in that area; and the need for improvements and enhancements to infrastructure of the Department; and views of relevant medical staff of the Department at the medical center and facilities in that catchment area regarding their preferences and needs for how to deliver health care to veterans and how those preferences impact the infrastructure needs of the Department. Understanding the capital asset policies, procedures, and directives of the Department, including those issued by the central office of the Department, the Veterans Health Administration, Veterans Integrated Service Networks, the Office of Acquisition, Logistics, and Construction, the Office of Asset Enterprise Management, the Office of General Counsel, the Office of Information and Technology, or any successor offices, and any other office of the Department with significant responsibility over capital asset management and planning. Implementing locally the policies, procedures, and directives described in subparagraph (H). Providing feedback regarding ways in which the policies, procedures and directives described in subparagraph
(H)can be improved. Understanding the importance for collaboration and coordination among all relevant offices of the Department, including the Office of Acquisition, Logistics, and Construction, the Office of Asset Enterprise Management, the Office of Information and Technology, or successor offices with similar functions, and other internal stakeholders as required to achieve success in all phases of capital asset management. Views and expectations may be collected under paragraph (1)(G) through multiple channels and the process used for such collection shall ensure that the views and expectations collected provide a representative sample of the population from which such views and expectations are collected. Any information collected under paragraph (1)(G) shall be collected in a manner that provides an option for submission of views that are anonymous and confidential. In collecting views and expectations of veterans and medical staff under paragraph (1)(G), an office, entity, or relevant staff described in subsection
(a)for a medical center of the Department shall ensure that the viewpoints of a diverse population of veterans being served by the medical center and medical staff of the medical center or in the catchment area of the medical center are captured. In carrying out paragraph (1)(G) and this paragraph, the Secretary shall use, as the Secretary considers appropriate, existing efforts and expertise of the Department through the Veterans Health Administration, the Office of Acquisition, Logistics, and Construction, the Office of Asset Enterprise Management, and the Veterans Experience Office. The views and expectations collected under paragraph (1)(G) shall be used to inform the offices, entities, or relevant staff described in subsection (a)(1) and the broader leadership of medical centers and Veterans Integrated Service Networks of the Department to develop plans for capital asset improvement. Subject to paragraph (3), the Secretary shall develop a standardized process to regularly solicit feedback from individuals and entities described in paragraph
(2)regarding the effectiveness of and ways to improve— the infrastructure and capital asset management investment processes and procedures of the central office of the Department and Veterans Integrated Service Networks of the Department; and the guidance of the central office and Veterans Integrated Service Networks regarding such processes and procedures to the medical centers, facilities in the surrounding catchment areas of those medical centers, and Veterans Integrated Service Networks, as appropriate. The individuals and entities described in this paragraph are the following: Each office, entity, or relevant staff described in subsection (a)(1) for a medical center of the Department. Medical staff of the Department at facilities in the surrounding catchment area of the medical center. Veterans Integrated Service Networks. Staff of offices within the central office of the Department, including the Office of Acquisition, Logistics, and Construction, the Office of Asset Enterprise Management, and the Office of Information and Technology, or successor offices with similar functions. The Veterans Health Administration, including the Office of Healthcare Environment and Facilities Programs. Such other offices as the Secretary determines relevant. To the degree practicable, the Secretary shall align the process developed and standardized under paragraph
(1)with the performance of market area assessments under section 7330C(a) of title 38, United States Code. Any information collected under paragraph
(1)shall be collected in a manner that provides an option for submission of views that are anonymous and confidential. The Secretary shall use the results of the report required under section 326 in establishing the offices, entities, or organizational structures required under subsection
(a)and carrying out any other requirements of this section.