By Alyssa Rosenberg
Pay systems pose significant challenges to the Veterans Affairs Department's efforts to hire enough doctors and nurses to meet the growing health care needs of veterans, said lawmakers and witnesses at a Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee hearing on Thursday.
"A simple truth of VA health care is that its providers are the real backbone of the system," said committee Chairman Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii. "If the providers are not present, or are there but unhappy in their jobs, it is unlikely that veterans will receive the quality care they need and deserve."
A number of witnesses pointed to the growing vacancy rate of certified registered nurse anesthetists as an indication of the challenge's magnitude.
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