RICHMOND, Va. — Former employees of Richmond's Veterans Administration Medical Center who were laid off are preparing to challenge their dismissals in court.
The workers met with local union leaders on Friday to file a grievance regarding the unexpected layoffs, which have now resulted in the termination of 50 staff members as part of broader federal budget cuts.
Dallas Sheldahl, an interior designer who had just completed her probation period, expressed shock at her unexpected firing.
"I received the email, and the blood just drained from my face. I thought it was fake. I yelled for my supervisor, and she came over," Sheldahl said.
She said that her recent work to improve hospital spaces tailored for veterans has now been rendered effectively moot due to her abrupt dismissal.
"I didn't even have the time to transfer over any of my projects, the work that I had been doing on major, multi-million dollar projects," Sheldahl said. "I wasn't able to make sure that someone else would understand the drawings and where the information is. And not only will that affect the care, because I was on projects to get more ORs for the hospital, to make the space better for veterans. But it could also cost additional money to retroactively have to go in and figure it out and redo my work."
Others among the dismissed workers echoed similar sentiments of concern over their contributions to veteran care.
"I did everything I could to make sure that my patients on the fourth floor had their supplies," supply technician Deandre Ephraim said. "I dealt primarily with cancer remission and just chemotherapy patients, and make sure that they had their supplies. My medical teams were always straight and they recognize me for that. I've got numerous certificates and letters of gratitude and appreciation from my medical teams as well as my chain of command."
And that effort is something he says is invaluable to the VA.
"I was one of the only techs in the whole hospital that had assigned a whole entire floor to him," said Ephriam. "That floor consisted of 15 different locations for supply needs, and I was the only tech that was able to manage that workload gracefully, no problems, no issues. And now that techs of my caliber are gone, it's going to cause a lot of havoc within this hospital."
Chucky Lee, who worked in Environmental Management at the VA Medical Center, shared a similar sentiment.
"The first line of defense in a hospital is the cleanliness of the hospital itself. And my job was actually doing floors," said Lee. "People see that first when they come into the hospital: the floor is shiny, and if it's dirty, you know it. We were supposed to have 14 people in our crew. We only had nine before these layoffs, and two of us got laid off, so we only had seven. That's half of what we need to do our job. And they can't, they can't possibly do it now."
Mintina Minto, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 2145, criticized the firings as unlawful, stating that the union will seek a judge or arbitrator's intervention.
Minto claimed the leadership at Richmond's VA was also taken by surprise by the dismissals.
"We already have the documentation approved from them, and these managers have been willing to step up to say these people have been some of the best employees that they've had," she said.
In a statement addressing the cuts, the VA assured that the layoffs would not negatively impact veteran care or services.
"This decision will have no negative effect on Veteran health care, benefits or other services," said Jeff Clements, a public affairs specialist with the Central Virginia VA Health Care System (CVHCS) in a statement.
As the dismissed workers contemplate their next steps, many reflected on their commitment to serving veterans.
"I unfortunately was unable to serve my country, so I felt this was the best way to serve my veterans," Troy Hazelbaker, a laundry machine operator, said.
Sheldahl explained her passion for the work, saying even though she had been working in a private firm designing housing for low-income seniors, she aspired to work for VA.
"I was like, 'I need to be doing more,'" said Sheldahl. "I loved those projects and seeing the direct benefit I was able to give to someone's life. But I had actually been applying to the VA for a few years, because I felt like it was just such a noble institution that really deserved the best that they could get for their people. And I finally got accepted. And it was so exciting, like I was like, 'Man, I'm really gonna be able to make a change in someone's life, a change in the day-to-day.' And that was the calling that I felt, that I wanted to be able to do more for people that deserved it."
The recent layoffs come at a time when federal agencies are preparing for further workforce reductions by March 13, as directed by the Office of Personnel Management.
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