00:00Thank you, Chair Barrett, and thank you, Ranking Member Brudinski, for convening today's hearing.
00:10As a former healthcare executive and former ranking member of this subcommittee, I understand
00:14that information technology is vital in delivering world-class healthcare and fulfilling our
00:19sacred promise to our veterans.
00:21I also know that significant organizational change can be disruptive, but often necessary.
00:28The way Doge and Mr. Vaught have approached these changes at OIT seem intentionally cruel.
00:34I have heard you are trying to right this ship and recognize the valuable contributions of
00:40VA employees while implementing the change.
00:43Mr. Poole, what other steps are you taking to repair employee morale?
00:48Thank you for the question, Congresswoman.
00:52It's a good opportunity to talk about the bigger picture at VA.
00:56Obviously change is very challenging.
00:59In this particular instance, change is very necessary.
01:01It's an opportunity under this administration to really improve the things at VA on a scale
01:09really not seen before.
01:10So as we go about that, we're doing very frequent communications.
01:14We have a lot of activities underway.
01:16We have surveying and taking a pulse of the organization.
01:20Again, just to check in and make sure the workforce is getting the information that they need.
01:26Particularly through the DRP programs, we made certain that we had lots of frequent communications,
01:33lots of options, lots of questions and answers with the workforce,
01:36so that the employees could make the best decision for themselves and the families given the opportunities presented.
01:42And what are you doing to bolster retention efforts?
01:44To bolster retention efforts, we are, again, making our mission focus back on the veteran.
01:52We are focusing exclusively on trying to optimize everything that we do to drive maximum value,
01:58and I think that in itself has been a uniter with the staff and a good focus for the organization to really, again, focus on our core mission.
02:08You know, what can we do to improve services to veterans across the board through technology?
02:13Do you have any mechanisms in place that can actually track feedback to make sure that you're getting the desired effect?
02:18Yes, Congresswoman, we absolutely do.
02:21In fact, I will yield to Ms. Beard, who will talk a little bit more about those mechanisms.
02:27Yes, thank you for the questions.
02:28During a time of change, it's so important to have strong communications with the staff
02:32and make sure that we're providing back the visibility and understanding and the why we are doing what we're doing.
02:37Since January especially, we've been doing a lot of town halls and other communications.
02:44We have over an 80% satisfaction rate with over 78% attendance, so good saturation along with strong satisfaction.
02:53In the development side, we also have released a career development portal for all categories along the NIST cybersecurity codes
03:03for employees that focuses on not only assessing their current skills and upskilling into the areas they want to do.
03:09So our focus around retention is not only to take care of them now, but also take care of what the VA is going to need
03:16and what they need to continue their growth here with OINT.
03:19Thank you. My next question has to do with the Chief Information Security Officer.
03:24There's been significant changes within the organization. How much involvement has the CISO had?
03:31Thank you, Congresswoman. She has been involved, as has her executive team. I believe that organization has
03:39four executives in the department. What we've done is primarily focus on the operational aspects,
03:46and then again with the CISO herself, that's going to be more focused on the policy side of things.
03:53Operationally, we're looking at those immediate concerns, but as we evolve and grow throughout this reshaping effort,
04:01this will be probably with much more involvement on the policy side.
04:04And how much control and execution control does she have?
04:09Congressman, I'm not sure I understand the question.
04:11Well, how much control, operational control over the execution does the CISO have since that person is going to be held accountable?
04:20How much control do they have?
04:22Congressman, I would say quite a bit of control. I mean, this is an environment where we
04:29welcome feedback from all areas of the organization and where that is available to collect and inform our strategy.
04:37We certainly maximize the opportunity to collect that.
04:39And why is the CISO not here today?
04:43Congressman, I can't really speak to that. I know that operationally, most of the components for our reshaping
04:50are being aligned more towards the technical operations side of the organization. Again,
04:54moving security functions next to the operations they support. And most of that is under Mr. Jack Galvin to my left.
05:02And so I thought, given the organizational direction we're going, it would probably be better to have Mr.
05:07Galvin here to speak to some of those issues.
05:09Since I only have a second left, so I just want to say that I just do have some deep concerns
05:13that we'll be holding this person accountable and they're not here to actually talk about
05:17the level of control they have and what they've been, how they've been participating. Thank you. I yield back.
05:22Thank you. I will recognize myself for five.
05:26To be continued...
05:28To be continued...
05:32Here we go...
05:42I will see you.
05:45MDR 4
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