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Trump Taps Maj. Gen. John Bartrum to Lead VHA

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Nominated for VA’s top health role, Bartrum brings over four decades of military and public service to the agency.

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Maj. Gen. John Bartrum speaks to students during McKendree University's Wayne E. Lanter Lecture Series in Oct. 2023.
Maj. Gen. John Bartrum speaks to students during McKendree University's Wayne E. Lanter Lecture Series in Oct. 2023. Photo Credit: McKendree University

President Donald Trump nominated Air Force Reserve Maj. Gen. John Bartrum to serve as the Department of Veterans Affairs’ next under secretary for Health on June 2. If confirmed, Bartrum would succeed Dr. Shereef Elnahal, who resigned from the position during the presidential transition. Bartrum currently serves as a senior advisor to VA Secretary Doug Collins.

“Thrilled to see President Donald J. Trump nominate John as U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs next Under Secretary for Health,” VA Deputy Secretary Paul Lawrence said in a LinkedIn post. “With over 40 years of military and public service, John brings unmatched experience to the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) — the largest integrated health care system in the country, serving more than 9.1 million veterans across 1,380 facilities.”

Bartrum joined the VA in Jan. 2025 after nearly 42 years of service in the U.S. Air Force, where he held a number of positions including mobilization assistant to the Air and Space Force Surgeon General and government-wide COVID-19 deputy commander.

He became the COVID-19 Emergency Support Function-8 (Public Health and Medical Services) deputy incident manager in 2020, where he fostered interagency cooperation and coordination of medical response forces.

Prior, he served as a senior professional staff for the U.S. House Appropriations Committee from 2009 to 2017, where he worked on policy and funding for labor, health and education issues. He has also supported legislation on dealing with infectious diseases like Ebola and the Zika virus and was instrumental in designing the infectious disease hospital network.

Before that, he served as an associate director at the National Institutes of Health, where he was responsible for the development, coordination, legislation and related policy issues for the agency.

If confirmed, Bartrum will be responsible for advancing VHA and VA’s priorities, including training and educating health care professionals, supporting contingency health care plans in case of national emergency and further developing veteran health-centered research efforts.

Bartrum’s private sector work includes his creation of Brightstar Innovations Group, a strategic advisory firm focused on issues like public policy, health care, government finance, supply chain and national security. Bartrum also served in the National Security Division of the Office of Management and Budget, where he was an advisor for the Defense Department and VA. He is also a fellow in the National Academy of Public Administration.

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