VA Medical Center Facility Transparency Act

Summary

Requires VA medical facilities to schedule appointment requests made by a covered veteran during the telephone call (even if the appointment date is later), to publish standardized annual and quarterly facility fact sheets, and to improve congressional notification and staffing rules for VA medical center directors. Those operational and reporting requirements take effect after short implementation windows and expire three years after enactment.

• VA must schedule appointment requests made by covered veterans during the phone call, effective for calls made on/after 180 days post-enactment.
• Each VA medical center must produce standardized annual and quarterly fact sheets and post them publicly and to Congress.
• Annual fact sheets must include counts, common conditions, veteran satisfaction metrics, improvement areas, and remediation items; quarterly sheets must report average wait time.
• Congress must be notified within set windows when a medical center director is detailed; an acting director must be appointed within 120 days.
• The Secretary must return/reassign or begin hiring to fill director vacancies within 180 days unless a documented investigation/administrative action applies; limited waivers allowed up to 540 days.
• The Secretary must establish a standard format for fact sheets and set recurring submission schedules beginning the first fiscal year after 180 days from enactment.
• All requirements in the Act automatically expire three years after enactment.
• The law targets operational procedures and transparency at VA medical centers rather than changing benefit eligibility or funding formulas.