Facilities Staffing Requirements
for the Veterans Health Administration—
Resource Planning and Methodology for the Future
INTERIM REPORT
Committee on Facilities Staffing Requirements for Veterans Health Administration
Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment
Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences
Board on Human-Systems Integration
Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education
A Consensus Study Report of
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
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This activity was supported by contracts between the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of any organization or agency that provided support for the project.
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-49299-7
International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-49299-8
Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/25455
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Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2019. Facilities Staffing Requirements for the Veterans Health Administration—Resource Planning and Methodology for the Future: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: https://doi.org/10.17226/25455.
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COMMITTEE ON FACILITIES STAFFING REQUIREMENTS FOR VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
COLIN G. DRURY, University at Buffalo (emeritus), Co-Chair
JAMES B. SMITH, U.S. Ambassador (retired), Co-Chair
ROBERT ANSELMI, Engineering Department, Veterans Hospital Administration (Retired)
ALBERTO J. GALUÉ, Talent Acquisition and Development, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
ROBERT GOODMAN, The Innova Group, Austin, Texas
WESLEY L. HARRIS, NAE, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
GENE HUBBARD, Human Capital Division, RiVidium, Inc., Manassas, Virginia
WILLIAM S. MARRAS, NAE, Department of Integrated Systems Engineering and Spine Research Institute, Ohio State University
KIMBERLY O’KEEFE, Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Management, Department of the Army (retired)
CHERYL PAULLIN, Talent Management and Analytics Division, Human Resources Research Organization, Alexandria, Virginia
FRED S. SWITZER III, College of Behavioral, Social, and Health Sciences, Clemson University
BRIAN YOLITZ, Associate Vice Chancellor for Facilities, Minnesota State College and University System
Staff
CAMERON C. OSKVIG, Director
DANIEL TALMAGE, Program Officer
KELLY ARRINGTON, Senior Program Assistant (until June 2019)
HEATHER KREIDLER, Associate Program Officer (until July 2019)
BOARD ON INFRASTRUCTURE AND THE CONSTRUCTED ENVIRONMENT
JAMES P. WHITTAKER, Facility Engineering Associates, P.C., Fairfax, Chair
WAYNE ARNY, Wayne Arny & Associates, Virginia Beach, Virginia
THOMAS BOSTICK, Intrexon Corporation, McLean Virginia
ROSS COROTIS, College of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Colorado
MAJOR GENERAL ARNOLD FIELDS, U.S. Marine Corps (retired)
PATRICIA GALLOWAY, Pegasus Global Holdings, Inc., McLean, Virginia
G. EDWARD GIBSON, Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, Arizona State University
SANJIV GOKHALE, School of Engineering, Vanderbilt University
CHRIS POLAND, Chris D. Poland Consulting Engineer, Canyon Lake, California
JAMES RISPOLI, Project Time and Cost, Inc., Arlington, Virginia
DOROTHY ROBYN, Boston Institute for Sustainable Energy, Boston University
SHARON L. WOOD, Cockrell School of Engineering, University of Texas, Austin
Staff
CAMERON C. OSKVIG, Director
BOARD ON HUMAN-SYSTEMS INTEGRATION
PASCALE CARAYON, College of Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Chair
JAMES BAGIAN, Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
DIANA BURLEY, Graduate School of Education and Human Development, George Washington University
BARBARA DOSHER, School of Social Sciences, University of California, Irvine
FRANCIS (FRANK) T. DURSO, Georgia Tech Center for Health and Humanitarian Systems, Georgia Institute of Technology
EDMOND ISRAELSKI, AbbVie, North Chicago, Illinois
NAJMEDIN MESHKATI, Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California
FREDERICK OSWALD, Department of Psychology, Rice University
DAVID REMPEL, Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University of California, San Francisco
EMILIE ROTH, Roth Cognitive Engineering, Stanford, California
WILLIAM J. STRICKLAND, Human Resources Research Organization, Alexandria, Virginia
MATTHEW WEINGER, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Staff
TOBY M. WARDEN, Director
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Preface
This interim report by the Committee on Facilities Staffing Requirements for Veterans Health Administration is part of the project to prepare a comprehensive resource planning and staffing methodology guidebook for the Facility Management (Engineering) Programs of the Veterans Health Administration. The committee has held five committee meetings and five workshops so far, and one more workshop and one more meeting are planned. From these activities, the committee has developed both a deep appreciation of the complexities associated with VHA Facilities Management and an understanding of its current methods of staff modeling and planning. The wide-ranging expertise brought to bear on the study challenge through the varying committee investigations has allowed the committee to evaluate existing models from potential analogs of the VHA Facility Management’s situation. As the committee’s target organization knowledge and modeling examples converge, it is beginning to develop findings and recommendations to meet the statement of task.
We wish to express our deep appreciation to the members of the committee for their diligent and dedicated contributions to developing and participating in the multiple workshops and meetings. The diverse expertise and experience offered by the members of the committee were indispensable to the formulation of the individual sessions. We also wish to thank, on behalf of the entire committee, the staff of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, whose expertise and skill was absolutely essential to our meeting the charge from our sponsor.
Colin Drury and James Smith, Co-Chairs
Committee on Facilities Staffing Requirements for Veterans Health Administration
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Acknowledgment of Reviewers
This Consensus Study Report was reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in making each published report as sound as possible and to ensure that it meets the institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process.
We thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations of this report nor did they see the final draft before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Rear Admiral David J. Nash of Dave Nash & Associates, LLC. He was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with the standards of the National Academies and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of the report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the National Academies.
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Contents
THE IMPORTANCE OF STAFFING MODELS FOR THE VHA
VA FACILITIES—SIZE AND COMPLEXITY ISSUES AT VISNS AND SITES
THE SCOPE OF FACILITY ENGINEERING ACTIVITIES
Tasks to Drive the Staffing Models of VHA Engineering
Capital Projects, Project Management, and Project Delivery
STAFFING MODELS—DIMENSIONS OF THE TASK AND OF POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS
Measures of Facilities Engineering Performance
INPUTS—DATA REQUIREMENTS FOR MODELS
CHALLENGES OF CHANGE MANAGEMENT WHEN IMPLEMENTING MODELS
Challenges Affecting the Future Role of VHA
Improving System Performance in Engineering
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