The Dayton VA Medical Center said a “small number” of Dayton employees have been impacted. The VA hospital, located on a campus between West Third Street and U.S. 35, has 2,355 full-time employees.
It was the second round of job cuts the national VA had announced in less than two weeks. On Feb. 13, the department said it had dismissed more than 1,000 employees, again on a national basis.
“Dayton VA Medical Center has dismissed a small number of probationary staff this month,” the Dayton center said in a statement Tuesday. “This decision will have no negative effect 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. We cannot discuss specific personnel matters due to privacy concerns.”
The latest cuts come at a time when probationary employees across the federal government are preparing themselves for possible job losses.
A representative of the Air Force Materiel Command told the Dayton Daily News last week that no probationary-status employees had lost jobs at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base as of 6 pm. Thursday, Feb. 20. On Monday, that same representative said he had no new information to share.
A new statement from the national VA released Monday evening identified as “mission-critical” positions such as Veterans Crisis Line responders, among other roles.
“VA positions considered non-mission critical include DEI-related positions, among other roles,” the department said.
“DEI” is a reference to diversity, equity and inclusion job positions, which the administration of President Donald Trump has sought to eliminate.
Late last week, U.S. District Judge Adam Abelson temporarily blocked Trump’s anti-DEI directives, claiming the moves could violate the First Amendment, according to national reports.
The VA said the latest personnel moves will save the department more than $83 million a year.
“VA will redirect all of those resources back toward health care, benefits and services for VA beneficiaries,” the department said.
There are today nearly 40,000 VA probationary employees nationwide, most of whom were exempt from the cuts because they serve in “mission-critical positions,” the VA said.
The department said it also continues to hire for more than 300,000 mission-critical positions that are exempt from the federal hiring freeze.
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