Hundreds of job vacancies at Chicago area VA hospitals are being wiped out as part of the Trump administration’s sweeping effort to cull the federal workforce, with many local workers warning the effort could exacerbate staffing shortages and lead to worse health care for veterans.The mass vacancy closing confirmed this week by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs follows the steady attrition resulting from the widespread job-cutting campaign of President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.Officials are aiming to close more than 400 open jobs at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center on the Near West Side, and about 200 vacancies will be eliminated at the Lovell Federal Health Care Center in North Chicago, sources told the Sun-Times. They spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of workplace retaliation.Figures weren’t available for Hines VA near Broadview or Illinois’ other federal veteran health care facilities in downstate Marion and Danville. But vacancies are being eliminated nationwide, according to Pete Kasperowicz, press secretary for the federal Veterans Affairs Department.“No VA employees are being removed, and this will have zero impact on veteran care,” Kasperowicz said in an email. “VA is simply eliminating about 25,000 open and unfilled positions — mostly COVID-era roles that are no longer necessary. All of these positions are unfilled and most have not been filled for more than a year, underscoring how they are no longer needed.”VA facilities “are continuing to fill vacancies as needed,” he added.That’s not what Heather Fallon has seen on the…
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