Letter to the Hon. Robert Wilkie, Secretary of the Dept. of Veterans Affairs - Peterson Pressing VA for Answers on Coronavirus Response

Letter

Dear Mr. Secretary:

We appreciate the updates you gave on Monday's phone calls and your commitment to

ensure VA provides daily updates to the Committee on the Veterans Health Administration's

(VHA) response to and preparedness for the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-l9) pandemic.

Now that VA has reported 44 cases (including one death), and President Trump has declared a National Emergency, Congress needs timely information to inform the veterans and the American people we serve, provide oversight of the VA's response to the pandemic, and ensure VA is resourced with the personnel, supplies, and infrastructure necessary during this National Emergency.

As this public health emergency evolves almost hourly, Congress must be informed so it can

act immediately to protect the health and safety of veterans who may be at significant risk during this pandemic. We need reporting on what VHA, the nation's largest government healthcare system, is experiencing on the ground.

Therefore, we request daily updates in writing to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs that

include the following:

1. Number of COVID-I9 test kits available to VHA

2. Number of veterans tested, both internally and outside VA

3. Number of employees tested

4. Status of all test results including the number of positive and presumptive positive results and the location and status of those patients

5. Data on testing time: time required to complete testing, both initial testing to establish a presumptive positive and time it takes to receive CDC confirmation

6. Criteria for testing veterans and employees

We request weekly updates in writing that include the following:

1. Number of acute care or ICU beds, current use statistics, and number used to treat COVID-19 patients

2. Number of ventilators and percentage in current use

3. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) supply levels

4. Number of negative pressure beds and current use statistics

5. Pharmaceutical supply levels

6. Current staffing levels, including the number of employees out of work due to illness and/or not at work due to a positive test for COVID-I9 or exposure to an individual positive for COVID-19

7. Current guidance given to VA employees and contractors who feel they may have been exposed, have symptoms, or are responsible for a child or family member who must remain home as a result of COVID-l9

Please provide the information we request daily starting today, Wednesday, March 18,2020. Please provide the information we request weekly starting on Friday, March 20,2020 and respond to our weekly information request no later than close of business Friday of each week. Please provide responses to the attached Congressional Request for Information no later than Wednesday, March 25, 2020. If you have any questions or need to provide additional information, please contact Ray Kelley, Majority Staff Director, at (202) 225-9756 or Jon Towers, Minority Staff Director, at (202) 225-2537.

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