VA CIO Roger Baker gets around

Roger Baker, CIO of the Veterans Affairs Department, had a busy schedule this week talking about the 2011 budget request and VA program updates at two breakfast events, in testimony on the Hill and in a conference call with reporters. He managed to keep his sense of humor throughout.

In a Q&A at a Bisnow conference on Feb. 23, asked about the relationship between the VA and the Military Health System on health record interoperability, he said, “It is a lot like a marriage.” Then he paused, as the audience waited for him to finish the thought. But ultimately, he said nothing more. 

Roger Baker hit the phones with the news media on Feb. 24 to publicize the VA’s program management approach to troubleshoot IT programs. “We are working through it. I liken it to a swamp fairly frequently. I hope the water gets lower but sometimes it gets higher. There are alligators right now,” Baker said.