§7310 Office of Women’s Health

Summary

Creates an Office of Women’s Health inside the VA’s Veterans Health Administration, based at the VA Central Office. A Chief Officer leads the Office and reports to the Under Secretary for Health. The Under Secretary must give the Office staff and support and may reorganize other VA offices to avoid repeating work. The Office watches and pushes for better health care for women veterans. It sets and checks standards of care, finds problems and helps fix them, oversees related resources and information, and promotes clinical, research, and training work. Each year it must give budget recommendations for hospital care and medical services under chapter 17 that at least match the share of women enrolled in the VA patient system. It also advises changes to the Veterans Equitable Resource Allocation system and carries out other duties the Under Secretary asks. If the Under Secretary decides not to follow any resource recommendation from the Chief Officer, the Secretary must tell the appropriate congressional committees within 30 days, explain the reason, and say what alternative will be used if any. Minimum standards include at least one designated women’s health primary care provider at each VA medical center who helps train other staff, and at least one at each community-based outpatient clinic who may see women as part of their duties. Each VA medical facility must hold a public forum for women veterans at least twice a year outside normal hours and run a women veterans focus group at least quarterly that includes discussion of harassment. Defined terms: appropriate congressional committees — the committees named elsewhere in law; facility of the Department — VA medical facility as defined elsewhere; Veterans Equitable Resource Allocation system — the VA resource formula set up by Public Law 104–204 (110 Stat. 2929).