Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 30, 1992 TAG: 9203300162
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
C. Wayne Hawkins, deputy chief medical director for operations, said he met with Salem VA Director Clark Graninger and Chief of Staff Larry Edwards the week of March 15 in Washington.
"I asked them to come in and meet to explain on a face-to-face basis what the issues were, what action could be taken to resolve any issues," Hawkins said in a recent phone interview. "We did discuss [the competency test] and got a ruling from our labor-management relations people on whether it was a negotiable issue."
As a result, "the management staff decision was made to halt the testing," Hawkins said.
That decision counters Graninger's earlier statement that he would not change his position on wanting competency testing.
The Roanoke Times & World-News requested an interview with Veterans Affairs Secretary Edward Derwinski but he declined, saying through a spokesman that an interview "was not something he can be involved in right now."
The spokesman directed a reporter's questions to Hawkins, who was on a business trip in Nevada.
The American Federation of Government Employees union at the Salem center had filed an unfair-labor practice action to challenge the competency tests. The issue of testing had been a primary source of conflict between Graninger and the union.
VA officials in Salem have said that the test would have been used in assessing competency of nursing staff and in making staff reassignments when a new $55 million clinical addition opens.
Hawkins explained that the VA system has in place an "evaluation system" that is used nationally. The Salem VA, though, decided to supplement that evaluation system with written tests to determine employee competency.
"In our system nationwide, we have an evaluation system annually of all of our employees that deals with proficiency and performance," Hawkins said. "This is a requirement not only of our agency to evaluate performance and proficiency but also a requirement of JCAHO."
JCAHO - the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations - accredits virtually all health-care facilities in the country, including the Salem VA medical center.
Hawkins said he did not have statistics "at my fingertips" on how many of the nation's 172 VA medical centers administer a competency test. The Salem center may be the first to do so, a national AFGE vice president said earlier.
"But I think the whole intent of the system is to make sure employees are able to meet patients' needs in a high-quality manner."
Hawkins said he had been "well aware" of recent events at the Salem medical center. He would not comment on allegations raised by the union but did say that the Veterans Affairs department "strongly" supports a good labor-management program.
"We constantly encourage open discussion between local management and union," he said. "Certainly, I think that's what I'd like to see at all of our facilities."
by CNB