Trump's back-to-office order will hurt veterans, VA docs and therapists say
Source: NPR
March 25, 2025 8:04 AM ET
As the Department of Veterans Affairs calls staff working in telehealth into offices across the country, a widespread concern about lack of space has emerged. The change will compromise medical ethics and patients' privacy, clinicians and advocates at multiple VA locations told NPR.
Telehealth has become common in recent years among medical professionals — especially for mental health therapists — and the VA hired many clinicians on a remote basis. The practice allowed the VA to expand its reach of mental health services into rural areas.
Now, many say, leadership at the VA has described a working arrangement in which they will still be doing telehealth from open spaces in VA facilities. The VA leaders describe the proposed arrangement like a call center.
"What we've heard is that there's not even enough room for each person to come in one day a week, let alone five," says H, a mental health clinician who asked to be identified only by her initial, for fear of losing her job. "We've been told they're cleaning out closets, they're looking into purchasing headsets."
Read more: https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/03/25/g-s1-55645/veterans-mental-health-trump-telehealth-privacy-va