Veterans services seeks temporary nursing pool, faces Build America/Buy America waiver delay on Boise home rebuild

The Idaho Division of Veteran Services told the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee on Oct. 24 that it is piloting a temporary‑nurse pool to reduce reliance on higher‑cost contracted nurses, and that federally funded construction to replace the Boise veterans home has been delayed while the agency and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs reconcile compliance with the Build America, Buy America Act.

Administrator Mark Shample (chief administrator, Idaho Division of Veteran Services) and the division’s budget analyst, Frances Lippett, said the division aims to move roughly $1.2 million of operating appropriation into personnel costs to establish a pool of 22 temporary benefited state employees to perform nursing shifts and reduce premium contracting costs.

Why it matters: the division said contracted nursing costs are substantially higher than state staff and that bringing some temporary roles in‑house would lower expenditures while preserving care capacity at four state veterans homes.

Staffing and turnover

Lippett told…