*Media advisory for Tuesday, August 12*

RNs fear termination of VA contract will deteriorate veteran care and lead to loss of critical staff

Registered nurses at Joseph Maxwell Cleland Atlanta VA Medical Center in Decatur, Ga., will hold a rally on Tuesday, August 12 in response to proposed cuts to services for homeless and high-risk veterans who need mental health services, announced National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU) today.

“We provide vital life-saving services to some of our most vulnerable vets who are without housing and facing serious mental health issues,” said Dana Horton, a registered nurse and NNU director. “For many of these veterans, we are their closest allies as we address their serious mental health issues and provide regular care. We fear that cutting nurses from this program will result in increased severity of symptoms, hospitalizations, and the risk of suicide among our veterans.”

The Atlanta VA management is looking to cut 55 percent of the staff in the Mental Health Intensive Case Management (MHICM) team. The MHICM team helps veterans with serious mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression with psychosis, and severe PTSD with psychosis, to better function in the community and to keep them from needing hospitalizations. Management is also looking to take staff from the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUDVASH) team, which helps homeless veterans with rental assistance and clinical and other support services.

What:  VA RNs rally against staffing cuts to mental health services for high-risk and homeless veterans

When:  Tuesday, August 12 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Where: Joseph Maxwell Cleland Atlanta VA Medical Center, 1670 Clairmont Rd., Decatur, Ga.

“We have veterans who have attempted suicide multiple times prior to receiving the intensive care and support we provide,” said Sharon Kuluwa, a registered nurse on the MHICM team. “We feel very strongly that cutting services to these extremely vulnerable veterans will jeopardize their well-being and their lives. We need to be adding nurses and resources to support these veterans in any way physically possible.”

Further jeopardizing patient safety, the Trump administration announced on August 6 that it intended to void most federal contracts with the VA, including NNU’s contract covering some 16,000 nurses. Nurses are deeply concerned this illegal termination of the contract will lead to a deterioration of care at the VA, since constitutionally protected collective bargaining rights and protections are fundamental to patient advocacy and ensuring the highest level of care at the VA.

The proposed cuts to the MHICM and HUDVASH come as the Trump administration is looking to cut 30,000 positions from the VA. According to an August 2024 Inspector General’s report, 82 percent of VA facilities are already suffering from severe shortages in nursing staff. Meanwhile, the number of veterans seeking care in the VA is rising exponentially.

“What we are seeing here in Atlanta is a prime example of robbing Peter to pay Paul,” said Florence Uzuegbunam, a nurse practitioner and NNU associate director. “Management is looking to take nurses from these vital positions in order to fill open positions. We know the answer is not to take from one team to add to another starving team, but to increase the total number of nurses and providers who work at the Atlanta VA. That is the only way we can fulfill our mission to provide high quality effective and therapeutic care to our veterans.”

NNOC/NNU represents more than 1200 registered nurses at the Atlanta VA Medical Center. The union represents more than 16,000 registered nurses, many of whom are also veterans, at 23 VHA facilities across the country.

National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States with more than 225,000 members nationwide. NNU affiliates include California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, DC Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, and New York State Nurses Association.