Dec 13 (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs plans to eliminate as many as 35,000 health care positions this month, the Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing an internal memo, Veterans Affairs staffers and congressional aides.
Reuters could not immediately confirm the report.
The cuts involve mostly unfulfilled jobs including doctors, nurses and support staff, the report said.
The Department of Veterans Affairs did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The agency hopes that the cuts will reduce the health care workforce to as little as 372,000 employees, a 10% reduction from last year, the report added, citing a memo shared with regional leaders last month.
The cuts come after the agency cut about 30,000 jobs in July, making two-thirds fewer employee cuts this fiscal year than it first targeted.
(Reporting by Gnaneshwar Rajan in Bengaluru; Editing by Alexander Smith)
