Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC) is staffed at only 79% of authorizations, according to a recent DoD report to Congress.

“The report identifies a pervasive Military Department manning shortfall that undermines the mission of WRNMMC to be a combat casualty receiving center and sustain a viable graduate medical education program,” according to a letter from DoD leadership accompanying the report about the premier military hospital.

Nurses have the lowest fill rate at 68% with personnel shortages across military, civil service, and service contract positions. The report cites national medical staffing shortages in the post-pandemic period, along with increased salaries and improved benefits offered by civilian health care organizations that make it difficult for federal pay scales to compete with the private sector.

[RELATED: MOAA’s TRICARE Guide]

Past MOAA advocacy campaigns raised alarms regarding potential civilian health care workforce instability and capacity constraints related to the COVID-19 pandemic. We achieved a five-year halt to proposed medical billet cuts with a provision in the FY 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that also required DoD to conduct a report on medical workforce requirements including a risk analysis, an evaluation of plans to backfill with civilians, and mitigation plans for any identified risks.

MOAA supports the Retain Educated Workers and Registered Nurses Developing (REWARD) Experience Act, which would let hiring managers at military treatment facilities waive regulations that drive many nurses into the private sector as they achieve higher levels of licensure.

[TAKE ACTION: Ask Your Lawmakers to Help DoD Retain Skilled Nurses]

Staffing shortfalls at WRNMMC could reverberate across the military health system (MHS) – Walter Reed is not only a premier military medical center for health care and research, but it also serves as a force-generating platform for the next generation of MHS clinicians, with 53 graduate medical education programs for the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

WRNMMC administrative and logistics areas are also understaffed, with a 73% overall fill rate and only 44% of the military personnel positions occupied. Admin shortfalls may undermine medical provider productivity when clinicians must take on tasks unrelated to providing care.

The Defense Health Agency, in coordination with the military departments’ medical services, is developing a Human Capital Distribution Plan (HCDP) to understand, account for, and analyze the duty requirements at the medical and dental treatment facility level to ensure availability of military medical personnel to support readiness and the delivery of care.

The HCDP will optimize military and civilian personnel assignments and contract requirements. It is intended to provide MHS leaders and DoD with a holistic approach to assessing, validating, and distributing the right person, at the right location, at the right time, with the right cost in support of readiness and beneficiaries.

[RELATED: TRICARE Appointments Will Be Honored Despite Year-End Turnover]

MOAA supports DoD’s revised strategy to stabilize the military health system and improve MTF staffing so MHS can fulfill both readiness and beneficiary care missions. We appreciate the strategy seeks to reattract versus recapture beneficiaries to the direct care system of military hospitals and clinics, but we remain concerned access-to-care issues will persist despite efforts to address MTF staffing issues.

MOAA continues to advocate for resources that help beneficiaries navigate the MHS, options for self-directed care outside MTFs, and transparency regarding access-to-care problems with the goal of improvements through accountability, including:

• Expanded TRICARE Qualifying Life Events (QLEs), including a QLE for pregnancy, that would allow beneficiaries to switch TRICARE plans to access care where it is available.
• A beneficiary access assistance system that would allow patients to submit and track the status of a barrier to access, with requirements to aggregate data at the MTF level for reporting to DHA so systemic access problems can be identified and addressed.

Please watch MOAA’s Advocacy News page for updates on these efforts as the FY 2025 NDAA process moves forward.