Obama appointee to lead VA under Trump

Dr. David Shulkin, currently under secretary of health at the Department of Veterans Affairs, has been tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the agency.

Shulkin, an appointee of President Barack Obama, was confirmed as the head of VA's health delivery system on June 23, 2015 on a voice vote. While Shulkin is not himself a veteran, he was born on an Army base in Highland Park, Ill., according to his statement at his confirmation hearing, where his father worked caring for military personnel. During his medical training, he worked at VA medical centers in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and West Haven, Conn.

"President-elect Trump's commitment to caring for our veterans is unquestionable and he is eager to support the best practices for care and provide our Veterans Affairs' teams with the resources they need to improve health outcomes," Shulkin said in a statement put out by the transition's communication office. "We are both eager to begin reforming the areas in our Veterans Affairs system that need critical attention, and do it in a swift, thoughtful and responsible way."

"I have no doubt Dr. Shulkin will be able to lead the turnaround our Department of Veterans Affairs needs. His sole mandate will be to serve our veterans and restore the level of care we owe to our brave men and women in the military," Trump said.

Shulkin said in his confirmation hearing that he was pleased with the reforms undertaken by current VA Secretary Robert McDonald, and he supported legislation that extended the private-sector options of VA patients.

"The Blue Print for Excellence to improve VA is a well thought out and comprehensive plan. The Choice Plan and the ability to offer seamless care between VA and the DOD and care in the private sector are also critical and efforts I would fully support," he said.

Throughout his tenure, Shulkin has worked closely with VA CIO LaVerne Council on modernizing health technology at the agency. They have pioneered a digital health platform that is designed to make VA health data more accessible and usable across its enterprise and interoperable with military and private-sector providers. The effort is also designed to makes heath data more open to veterans and give veterans the ability to connect data from wearables to their health records.

At a June 24 hearing, Shulkin said that the digital health platform was not dependent on any single electronic health record, setting the stage for a public discussion of the future of Vista, the VA's home-grown open-source health care system. The next iteration of Vista is scheduled for delivery in 2018.

Shulkin and Council appeared jointly at several hearings to sell lawmakers on the digital health platform and try to allay widespread concerns about deficiencies of Vista. Their partnership raises the question of whether Council, also a political appointee, could be asked to remain at the VA. An email to the Office of Information and Technology was not immediately answered.