March 24, 2026
Mrs. Kiggans of Virginia introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
To amend title 38, United States Code, to require that a sterile processing technician of the Veterans Health Administration holds an appropriate professional certification, and for other purposes.
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Veteran Infection Prevention Act
.
Sec. 2. Professional certification requirement for sterile processing technicians of the Veterans Health Administration
(a) Requirement
Section 7402(b) of title 38, United States Code, is amended—
(1)
by redesignating paragraph (14) as (15); and
(2)
by inserting after paragraph (13) the following new paragraph:
(14) Sterile processing technician
To be eligible to be appointed to a sterile processing technician position (except for such a position that the Secretary determines is entry level), a person must be certified as a sterile processing technician by an accredited institution engaged in providing sterile processing technician training not later than two years after such an appointment.
(b) Current employees
(1) Applicability
The amendment made by subsection (a) shall apply to a covered employee two years after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(2) Employee Incentive Scholarship Program
(A) Requirement
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall award to a covered employee a scholarship under subchapter VI of chapter 76 of title 38, United States Code, for certification described in of section 7402(b)(14) of such title, as amended by subsection (a).
(B) Period of obligated service
Notwithstanding section 7672(e) of such title, the period of obligated service of a covered employee awarded a scholarship pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be a period of two years beginning on the day that the covered employee receives such certification.
(3) Covered employee defined
In this subsection, the term covered employee
means a person—
(A)
occupying a sterile processing technician position in the Veterans Health Administration on the date of the enactment of this Act; and
(B)
who, on such date, is not certified as a sterile processing technician by an accredited institution engaged in providing sterile processing technician training.