I've always approached my job first as a physician. I'm here to help and take care of patients. I'm an administrator second. David Shulkin More Quotes by David Shulkin More Quotes From David Shulkin Yes. Were still in a war, so we could. much of my narrative deals with the factions pushing me to simply close the VA or at least large parts of it that werent working well. David Shulkin politics Shulkin may not be a veteran, but he does come from a military family. He was born on a military base in Illinois and his father was an Army physiatrist, according to the Military Times. Both of his grandfathers served during World War I, one of whom was also the chief pharmacist at the VA in Madison, Wisconsin. Hailing from a military family has sensitized me to the psychological and medical needs of those who served our country. David Shulkin politics No judge who has never run a hospital and never cared for our nation’s veterans will force me to put an employee back in a position when he allowed the facility to pose potential safety risks to our Veterans, protecting our veterans is my most important responsibility. David Shulkin latest-headlines One Veteran suicide is one too many. David Shulkin health We have about 360,000 employees in the VA health care system. It's the largest health care system in the country. And the negative attention that's been put on VA has hurt the morale of our workforce. And so what we're trying to do is to get people to understand that we're doing great work every day. David Shulkin day health work people Part of what any good health-care professional does, including an advanced-practice nurse, is know when it is time to seek help from more experienced professionals. I'm a primary care doctor. It doesn't mean I know everything. When something is beyond my competency or expertise, I seek consultation from my colleagues. David Shulkin doctor good colleagues time The first responsibility that we have to our veterans is to make sure those that need urgent care are getting care on time. David Shulkin veterans care responsibility time I don't believe that the problems in the VA are necessarily about money. When I look back over the problems of the VA over the past decade, this is fundamentally a system that hasn't kept up with modernization in the way that the rest of health care in the private sector has. David Shulkin look health money past We are a system where I can tell you that nobody is doing more for behavioral health care in this country than the VA. David Shulkin nobody you care health A veteran deserves the very best health care anywhere. That means sometimes, they should go out into the private sector if something's being done better than the VA. David Shulkin best care health sometimes There will be far greater accountability, dramatically improved access, responsiveness, and expanded care options, but the Department of Veterans Affairs will not be privatized under my watch. David Shulkin veterans will accountability care If there is evidence that an employee has broken the law, caused harm to veterans, or have violated the public trust, they should be terminated immediately. Instead, due to overly cumbersome and lengthy arbitrations as well as extensive bureaucratic red tape, VA has not been able to remove employees as quickly as we would have liked. David Shulkin red trust broken law Accountability is a two way street. We can't just make it easier for us to fire people; we must make it easier for us to hire people. It takes VA an average of 240 days to complete the hiring process for executives joining VA from outside government. We are losing talented people because it simply takes too long. David Shulkin government fire long people What we know about American medicine is that our supply of health-care professionals is not equally distributed. In rural areas, we have severe shortages. David Shulkin american about know medicine I do think that VA, as the largest employer of nurses and the largest health system in the country, often does become a place where we can demonstrate advances in medical practice. David Shulkin think medical health practice VA is a unique national resource that is worth saving, and I am committed to doing just that. David Shulkin worth i-am doing unique It was clear that VA was in need of reform, and when the president asked for help, I could not say no. First, I felt I could help, and my private sector experience was relevant. Second, that this was my chance to give back to those that had stepped up to serve our country. David Shulkin back experience chance country My career goal is to work as a liaison between organized medicine, government, and third-party payers. David Shulkin career medicine government work
