38 U.S.C. § 7310: Office of Women’s Health

Summary

Create and run an Office of Women’s Health inside the Veterans Health Administration at the VA Central Office. The Office is led by a Chief Officer who reports to the Under Secretary for Health. The Under Secretary must give the Office the staff and support it needs and may reorganize other VHA offices to avoid doing the same work twice. The Office watches over and pushes for better health care for women veterans. It makes and enforces standards of care, finds problems and helps VA medical facilities fix them, reviews care given in the community and advises on fixes, manages resources and information for women’s health programs, and supports more clinical care, research, and training. The Office must also give budget recommendations for hospital care and medical services for women veterans under chapter 17 so funding reflects or exceeds the share of women enrolled under section 1705(a), and it can recommend changes to the Veterans Equitable Resource Allocation system. The Under Secretary can assign other duties as needed. If the Under Secretary decides not to follow a Chief Officer recommendation about resource allocation, the Secretary must tell the appropriate congressional committees within 30 days. That notice must explain the decision and say what alternative, if any, will be used. Standards must include at least one designated women’s health primary care provider at each VA medical center who helps train others, and at least one at each community-based outpatient clinic who may see women as part of their duties; the Under Secretary can add other requirements. The Chief Officer must make sure each VA medical facility holds a public forum for women veterans at least twice a year outside normal hours and runs a focus group at least quarterly that discusses harassment. Definitions: “appropriate congressional committees” — see section 7310A(h); “facility of the Department” — see section 1701(3); “Veterans Equitable Resource Allocation system” — the allocation system created by section 429 of the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997 (Public Law 104–204; 110 Stat. 2929).

Title 38, §7310

Veterans' Benefits, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Establishment.—

(1)The Under Secretary for Health shall establish and operate in the Veterans Health Administration the Office of Women’s Health (in this section referred to as the “Office”).

(2)The Office shall be located at the Central Office of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

(3)(A)The head of the Office is the Chief Officer of Women’s Health (in this section referred to as the “Chief Officer”).

(B)The Chief Officer shall report to the Under Secretary for Health.

(4)The Under Secretary for Health shall provide the Office with such staff and other support as may be necessary for the Office to carry out effectively the functions of the Office under this section.

(5)The Under Secretary for Health may reorganize existing offices within the Veterans Health Administration as of the date of the enactment of this section in order to avoid duplication with the functions of the Office.

(b)Functions.—

The functions of the Office include the following:

(1)To provide a central office for monitoring and encouraging the activities of the Veterans Health Administration with respect to the provision, evaluation, and improvement of health care services provided to women veterans by the Department.

(2)To develop and implement standards of care for the provision of health care for women veterans by the Department.

(3)To monitor and identify deficiencies in standards of care for the provision of health care for women veterans by the Department, to provide technical assistance to medical facilities of the Department to address and remedy deficiencies, and to perform oversight of implementation of such standards of care.

(4)To monitor and identify deficiencies in standards of care for the provision of health care for women veterans provided through the community pursuant to this title and to provide recommendations to the appropriate office to address and remedy any deficiencies.

(5)To oversee distribution of resources and information related to health programming for women veterans under this title.

(6)To promote the expansion and improvement of clinical, research, and educational activities of the Veterans Health Administration with respect to the health care of women veterans.

(7)To provide, as part of the annual budgeting process, recommendations with respect to the amounts to be requested for furnishing hospital care and medical services to women veterans pursuant to chapter 17 of this title, including, at a minimum, recommendations that ensure that such amounts either reflect or exceed the proportion of veterans enrolled in the system of patient enrollment of the Department established and operated under section 1705(a) of this title who are women.

(8)To provide recommendations to the Under Secretary for Health with respect to modifying the Veterans Equitable Resource Allocation system, or successor system, to ensure that resource allocations under such system, or successor system, reflect the health care needs of women veterans.

(9)To carry out such other duties as the Under Secretary for Health may require.

(c)Recommendations.—

(1)If the Under Secretary for Health determines not to implement any recommendation made by the Chief Officer with respect to the allocation of resources to address the health care needs of women veterans, the Secretary shall notify the appropriate congressional committees of such determination by not later than 30 days after the date on which the Under Secretary for Health receives the recommendation.

(2)Each notification under paragraph (1) relating to a determination with respect to a recommendation shall include the following:

(A)The reasoning of the Under Secretary for Health in making the determination.

(B)An alternative, if one is selected, to the recommendation that the Under Secretary for Health will carry out to fulfill the health care needs of women veterans.

(d)Standards of Care.—

For purposes of carrying out the functions of the Office under this section, the standards of care for the provision of health care for women veterans from the Department shall include, at a minimum, the following:

(1)A requirement for—

(A)at least one designated women’s health primary care provider at each medical center of the Department whose duties include, to the extent practicable, providing training to other health care providers of the Department with respect to the needs of women veterans; and

(B)at least one designated women’s health primary care provider at each community-based outpatient clinic of the Department who may serve women patients as a percentage of the total duties of the provider.

(2)Other requirements as determined by the Under Secretary for Health.

(e)Outreach.—

The Chief Officer shall ensure that—

(1)not less frequently than biannually, each medical facility of the Department holds a public forum for women veterans that occurs outside of regular business hours; and

(2)not less frequently than quarterly, each medical facility of the Department convenes a focus group of women veterans that includes a discussion of harassment occurring at such facility.

(f)Definitions.—

In this section: (1)

(2)The term “facility of the Department” has the meaning given the term “facilities of the Department” in section 1701(3) of this title.

(3)The term “Veterans Equitable Resource Allocation system” means the resource allocation system established pursuant to section 429 of the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997 (Public Law 104–204; 110 Stat. 2929).

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The date of the enactment of this section, referred to in subsec. (a)(5), is the date of enactment of Pub. L. 116–315, which was approved Jan. 5, 2021. section 429 of the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997, referred to in subsec. (f)(3), is section 429 of title IV of Pub. L. 104–204, Sept. 26, 1996, 110 Stat. 2929, which is not classified to the Code.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

References to Health Care and Services Pub. L. 116–315, title V, § 5101(b)(2), Jan. 5, 2021, 134 Stat. 5026, provided that: “The references to health care and the references to services in section 7310 and 7310A of title 38, United States Code, as added by paragraph (1), are references to the health care and services included in the medical benefits package provided by the Department as in effect on the day before the date of the enactment of this Act [Jan. 5, 2021].”

§7310 Office of Women’s Health