The top healthcare official at the Department of Veterans Affairs is stepping down after less than a year on the job.<\/p>\n
Undersecretary for Health John Bartrum told staff in an email last night that he will resign from his position, effective July 6. In this role, he oversaw VA\u2019s nationwide health care system, which serves more than 9 million veterans.<\/p>\n
Bartrum joined the VA in the early days of the second Trump administration, and was confirmed as the undersecretary for health by the Senate in December 2025. In his email to staff, he wrote, \u201cI am proud of what we have accomplished together.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe most vital resource we have within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is its people. It has been my honor to lead these professional civil servants,\u201d Bartrum wrote.<\/p>\n
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VA Press Secretary Quinn Slaven said the department will make an announcement in the coming days regarding interim VHA leadership.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe thank John for his leadership of VHA and the many VA accomplishments he presided over during his 17 months of service at the department,\u201d Slaven said.<\/p>\n
As undersecretary for health, Bartrum played a leading role in the VA\u2019s resumed rollout of its new Electronic Health Record. The VA started deploying the new system to medical centers<\/a> in April, after a three-year hiatus to address persistent outages and usability issues. More rollouts are expected later this year.<\/p>\n The EHR modernization project is expected to make health records interoperable between VA and the Defense Department. DoD completed its rollout of the new EHR in March 2024. VA expects to complete its rollout of the new EHR as soon as 2031.<\/p>\n This EHR modernization project, which began under the first Trump administration, is one of the biggest IT contracts in the federal government.<\/p>\n Lawmakers from both parties previously considered pulling the plug<\/a> on the multibillion-dollar project. But\u00a0Bartrum wrote that VA is \u201cputting it back on a credible path after years of uncertainty.\u201d<\/p>\n Bartrum also led VA\u2019s healthcare operations during its biggest reorganization in 3o years. In a recent interview with Federal News Network<\/a>, Bartrum said the \u201ccurrent structure that we have is riddled with redundancies that slow decision-making, sow confusion and create competing priorities.\u201d<\/p>\n ]]><\/p>\n \u201cWe set out goals of improving healthcare for veterans, empowering local hospital directors and eliminating duplicate layers of bureaucracy and ensuring consistency across the system,\u201d Bartrum said. \u201cThat\u2019s how we\u2019re getting after \u2018better\u2019 to make sure that we\u2019re taking care of our veterans.\u201d<\/p>\n VA is spending $4.8 billion this year to restructure and modernize its roughly 170 hospitals and 1,300 sites of care.<\/p>\n VA Secretary Doug Collins has told lawmakers that the reorganization will focus in part on shifting VA\u2019s workforce to the regions of the country<\/a> with a growing veteran population, and drawing down staffing in places where the veteran population is shrinking.<\/p>\n The VA eliminated\u00a030,000 positions<\/a> through attrition last year and saw its first net decrease in staffing in recent years. VA\u2019s inspector general office reported last year<\/a> that severe healthcare staffing shortages are on the rise. The VA, as part of ongoing reorganization plans, also removed about 26,000 unfilled positions from its rolls.<\/p>\n