Virginia: Fredericksburg VA clinic still about 40% vacant

The Fredericksburg VA Health Care Center was sold as the nation's largest VA clinic. Uriah Kiser reads the CNN report on Virginia Insider. The building is about 470,000 square feet and about $300 million. More than 18 months after opening, CNN says veterans, providers, and members of Congress describe a clinic that still cannot staff up. VA data CNN obtained put the vacancy rate near 40 percent, more than 350 unfilled jobs.

Michael Dunlap, 63, a retired Marine master gunnery sergeant, told CNN he has already had four primary care doctors in about a year and a half. He gets a form letter. The rapport resets. CNN describes empty hallways, a large parking lot, and trouble getting seen, including in urgent care. The clinic serves a corridor heavy with veterans, near Quantico, Fort Belvoir, and Fort A.P. Hill.

The piece is also national. CNN ties the Fredericksburg gap to dozens of VA facilities built or updated after a Biden-era expansion of benefits, then to a workforce shortage. A VA inspector general review, as CNN reports it, found 97 percent of VA facilities reporting severe shortages of doctor candidates and 86 percent reporting severe shortages of nursing candidates. Those are hard-to-fill jobs, not a claim that every one is vacant. About half of the newer facilities had double-digit vacancy rates as of July, CNN said.

VA Press Secretary Quinn Slavin told CNN the clinic has met its hiring goals, has completed more than 245,000 appointments in less than two years, and is ahead of schedule on enrolling patients. He said veterans can use this clinic, other VA sites, or community care at VA expense. He also pointed to a smaller benefits backlog in the second Trump administration. Representative Eugene Vindman, whose district includes the clinic, told CNN veterans are not getting the services they require. Kiser's read asks what, besides another roundtable, changes the vacancy number.

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Source:

CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/01/politics/veterans-affairs-health-centers-doctor-staff-shortage

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