Mentorship program for executive leadership teams at medical centers of the Department of Veterans Affairs

(a) In general The Secretary of Veterans Affairs may establish a program to connect covered individuals (in this section referred to as mentees) with peer mentors to facilitate sharing of best practices and leadership experiences and to foster opportunities to develop knowledge and skills required to lead successfully at medical facilities of the Department (in this section referred to as the mentorship program). (b) Covered individual defined In this section, the term covered individual means— (1) an individual in the position of Facility Director, Chief of Staff, Associate Director of Patient Care Services, Associate Director, Assistant Director, or Deputy Director at a medical center of the Department; or (2) any other employee of the Department who is determined by the Secretary to be an executive leader at a medical center of the Department. (c) Eligibility The following employees of the Department are eligible for participation as mentees in the mentorship program: (1) An employee appointed to a position as a covered individual who has been in that position for less than one year. (2) A covered individual employed at a medical center of the Department (regardless of appointment commencement date) that meets one or more of the following criteria: (A) Reports poor performance, as defined by the Secretary, on the Strategic Analytics for Improvement and Learning Value Model of the Department, or successor similar model. (B) Reports data under section 1703C(a)(3) of title 38, United States Code, as published on the Access to Care website of the Department, or successor similar website, that— (i) does not consistently meet the level reported in the community surrounding such medical center, as determined by the Secretary; or (ii) does not meet a threshold level determined by the Secretary. (C) Has one or more recommendations from a report by the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Veterans Affairs that is still open more than one year after the report was published. (3) A covered individual employed at a medical center of the Department (regardless of appointment commencement date) who is recommended by the Director of the Veterans Integrated Service Network overseeing such medical center. (d) Criteria for peer mentors Each peer mentor to be paired with a mentee under subsection (a) shall meet each of the following criteria: (1) Previous or current employment in the same position title as the mentee. (2) Employment in that position for not less than two years. (3) Employment at a medical center of the Department that reports— (A) above average performance, as defined by the Secretary, on the Strategic Analytics for Improvement and Learning Value Model of the Department, or successor similar model; and (B) data under section 1703C(a)(3) of title 38, United States Code, as published on the Access to Care website of the Department, or successor similar website, that exceeds the level reported in the community surrounding such medical center, as determined by the Secretary. (e) Report Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for an additional three years, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives a report on the mentorship program, including— (1) the number of mentees and peer mentors participating in the mentorship program, disaggregated by medical center of the Department; (2) the number of mentor-mentee pairings initiated under each of the eligibility criteria outlined in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subsection (c), including information on any circumstances in which multiple criteria under such paragraphs were met; (3) a description of the actions taken by the Department to encourage communication between mentees and peer mentors; (4) aggregated feedback from participants in the mentorship program; and (5) the turnover rate for covered individuals.