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Veterans services seeks temporary nursing pool, faces Build America Buy America hold on Boise rebuild
Summary
The Division of Veteran Services told JFAC it is piloting a temporary nursing pool to reduce use of higher‑cost contract nurses, detailed a 35% turnover rate among nursing staff, and said federal Buy America rules and pending federal waivers have delayed federally funded rebuilds of the Boise and Lewiston veterans homes.
Mark Shample, chief administrator of the Idaho Division of Veteran Services, and Legislative Services analyst Frances Lippett told the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee the division is planning a pilot to hire a pool of temporary benefited state employees to reduce reliance on contracted nursing staff and improve continuity of care.
Lippett reviewed the division’s budget trends and said the division had a 35% turnover rate for skilled nursing staff in FY‑24 and increasingly relies on contract labor. The division requested a net transfer of $1.2 million from operating to personnel to create 22 temporary benefited nursing positions as a pilot; the stated aim is to shift roughly one‑third of contracted nursing work to state employees to reduce premium contract costs.
Administrator Mark Shample described the recruitment and retention context and said the homes are largely at capacity and the temporary pool is intended to capture nurses who will not take a full‑time role but will work part‑time or pick up shifts. “While it's hard to find somebody who wants to come on full time, we've had a lot of nurses who have expressed interest in coming to work a shift once in a while or work part time,” Shample said. He said bringing those roles in‑house could reduce contract premium spending and improve staffing continuity.
Construction and federal funding issues
Lippett and Shample described federal state home grant funding earmarked to rebuild the Boise veterans home and renovate Lewiston. The projects are federally cost‑shared (approximately 65% federal / 35% state), but the division said it has been unable to proceed because some required materials cannot be procured consistent with the Build America, Buy America Act (BABA) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has not yet granted the division requested waivers. Shample said the division has documented an inability to source certain domestic products and continues to seek the federal waiver to proceed with construction.
Other requests and operations
The division also requested one‑time funding for replacement items (vehicles, medical equipment, kitchen appliances), IT maintenance/licensing and a small amount for cemetery equipment. Lippett reported the division’s Office of Veterans Advocacy filed about 13,000 claims last year and secured substantial federal benefits for Idaho veterans.
Why it matters
Committee members pressed for pay‑comparisons between contract nurses and state employees; Lippett agreed to provide additional information on the premium contractor rates. The temporary nursing pool is a pilot designed to reduce a large recurring contract premium and to stabilize operations at all four state veterans homes. The committee did not take formal action during the presentation; the division’s requests and federal waiver status were recorded for JFAC consideration.
