Washington, D.C. — Yesterday, Congressman Eugene Vindman (Va.-07) sent a letter to Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) Doug Collins requesting that he take immediate and decisive action to hire the medical specialists necessary to fully staff the Fredericksburg VA Health Care Center and ensure that veterans in Virginia receive the care they deserve.
The letter follows a meeting between Vindman, Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.), and senior leadership at the Fredericksburg VA Health Care Center to discuss ongoing staffing challenges and barriers to recruiting and retaining medical specialists.
During the meeting, a representative of Secretary Collin’s DC Office cited salary limitations as a significant obstacle to competing with private-sector health care providers for qualified physicians. Vindman is calling on Secretary Collins to use existing authority granted by Congress to waive those pay limitations for critical health care personnel and help fill vacancies at the Fredericksburg facility.
You can read the full text of the letter below.
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Secretary Collins,
I write to request that you take immediate and decisive action to hire the medical specialists necessary to fully staff the Fredericksburg VA Health Care Center and ensure that Veterans in Virginia receive the care they deserve. Congress has granted you the authority to pay competitive salaries for the medical professionals who treat our country’s heroes. The time to exercise that authority to help veterans in Fredericksburg is now.
As you are aware, on August 24th, Senator Tim Kaine and I participated in a meeting with senior leadership of the VA Health Care Clinic in Fredericksburg. The facility leaders who attended that meeting were knowledgeable, forthcoming, and clearly committed to helping those who served our country. In my view, the meeting was a productive step towards resolving the staffing issues at the clinic.
The most important takeaway from the discussion related to hiring for vacant positions. A representative from your Washington, DC office explained that VA salary limitations are preventing the agency from competing with private hospitals for talented doctors. Specifically, he claimed the Fredericksburg facility is unable to hire and retain adequate staff because the VA does not pay doctors a competitive salary. However, for over a year, your agency has had Congressional authority to remedy this problem and hire all the skilled practitioners necessary to ensure that America’s veterans receive the medical care they deserve.
In December of 2024 a Republican House of Representatives worked with a Democratic Senate and President Biden to resolve this issue by passing the Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act. This legislation contained a provision that granted the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 300 waivers permitting the agency to pay higher salaries for specialists in critical areas of healthcare.
It is my understanding that your team has recently begun awarding these waivers and that fewer than 100 remain to be allocated. Furthermore, according to staff on the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, not a single voucher has been used anywhere in Virginia. I am calling on you to use a portion of the remaining waivers to hire high-quality medical specialists for the Fredericksburg facility so we can improve the lives of the tens of thousands of veterans living in Central and Northern Virginia.
Virginia’s Seventh Congressional District is home to one of the highest concentrations of veterans in the country, and the Fredericksburg Health Care Center is the largest and newest VA outpatient clinic. A substantial share of my constituents in the Seventh are rural veterans, for whom traveling to Richmond or Washington D.C., presents a significant burden. Therefore, deploying the Elizabeth Dole Act vouchers in Fredericksburg will deliver real benefits to an area with an acute need.
As I mentioned above, the meeting with local leadership from the Fredericksburg Health Care Center was encouraging. Because your office has acknowledged that you understand the salary cap issue, it is your duty to address it immediately. Mr. Secretary, you have a clear opportunity to improve the quality of medical care for Virginia Veterans. I urge you to exercise your waiver authority to fill the vacancies at the Fredericksburg Health Care Center without further delay. If you need additional waiver authority for more slots, we stand ready to work with you to make that happen.
Please provide a response advising me whether you will begin using the waivers allowed by Section 142 of the Elizabeth Dole Act of 2025 to hire medical specialists at the Fredericksburg VA Health Care Center no later than Friday, October 9, 2026.
BACKGROUND
On Monday, August 24, Vindman and Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.) hosted a roundtable with veterans discuss their experiences with the Fredericksburg VA Health Care Center. Following the meeting, the lawmakers met with senior VA leadership.
In mid-July 2026, 200 Virginians responded to a survey from Vindman about the delays they experienced at the Fredericksburg VA Health Care Center. He personally called over 30 of these veterans to express his commitment to demanding better from the VA.
In June 2026, Vindman introduced bipartisan legislation to increase transparency and accountability at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), helping address understaffing at facilities across the country, including the Fredericksburg VA Health Care Center, and ensure veterans receive the care they earned.
Prior to that, Vindman called for accountability and a clear timeline to bring the facility to full capacity, ensuring our nation’s veterans receive the care they earned through their service in six different letters. All of these letters have gone without a written or substantial response.
- Vindman sent the first letter to Secretary Collins raising the concern on staffing, wait times, and the ability to best serve veterans on April 10, 2025. Read the letter here.
- Vindman sent the second letter to Secretary Collins raising the concern on staffing, wait times, and the ability to best serve veterans on October 6, 2025. Read the letter here.
- Vindman sent the third letter to Secretary Collins raising the concern on staffing, wait times, and the ability to best serve veterans on October 17, 2025. Read the letter here.
- Vindman sent the fourth letter to Secretary Collins raising the concern on staffing, wait times, and the ability to best serve veterans on October 27, 2025. Read the letter here.
- Vindman sent the fifth letter to Secretary Collins raising the concern on staffing, wait times, and the ability to best serve veterans on April 10, 2026. Read the letter here.
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