The Lebanon VA Medical Center laid off an undisclosed but “small” number of probationary staff in February.
The cuts were made as part of a government-wide effort led by President Donald Trump to make federal agencies more efficient. Few details are available.
As of 2023, the Lebanon VAMC had 2,234 employees. The federal government is the top employer in Lebanon County. (Fort Indiantown Gap has about 2,000 employees.)
Douglas Etter, Lebanon VAMC chief communications officer, said the decision will not have any negative effective on veteran health care, benefits, or other services, and will “allow VA to focus more effectively on its core mission of serving Veterans, families, caregivers and survivors.”
Etter said specific personnel matters cannot be discussed due to privacy concerns.
Over two separate announcements in February, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced that 2,400 out of 44,000 probationary employees were being dismissed.
The VA said affected personnel were either non-bargaining unit probationary employees who have served less than a year in a competitive service appointment or who have served less than two years in an excepted service appointment. Employees in mission critical roles were exempted, the agency said.
VA Secretary Doug Collins said the staff reduction will not hurt VA health care, benefits, or beneficiaries.
“These and other recent personnel decisions are extraordinarily difficult, but VA is focused on allocating its resources to help as many Veterans, families, caregivers, and survivors as possible,” said Secretary Collins in a press release.
The Trump administration wants to bring the department down to 2019 staffing levels, according to an Associated Press report, which would amount to cutting 80,000 jobs.
On Friday, March 13, a judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland ordered that employees from the VA and more than a dozen other federal agencies be temporarily reinstated. The Trump administration has appealed the decision.
Lebanon VA Medical Center is one of 170 medical centers in the nation with the sole purpose of providing medical care to America’s Veterans. Lebanon VAMC serves a nine-county area in south-central Pennsylvania, covering Adams, Berks, Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry, Schuylkill and York counties. The facility also oversees community clinics in Lancaster, Mechanicsburg, Pottsville, Wyomissing, York, and Fort Indiantown Gap.
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