VA audit finds more vets waiting more than 30 days
From the Stars & Stripes we read that the on-going audit of regional Veterans’ Affairs medical facilities is finding even more veterans who are waiting for their appointments to see doctors;
The updated report includes new figures showing that the wait times actually experienced at most VA facilities were shorter than those on waiting lists for pending appointments. For instance, new patients at the Atlanta VA hospital waited about an average of 44 days for an appointment in April, the new report said. But the average wait for pending appointments at Atlanta was 66 days.
Similar disparities in average wait times were found around the country. Pending appointments, for example, don’t include patients who walk into a clinic and get immediate or quick treatment, VA officials said.
Like I’ve said, these are regional problems. I’ve never had a problem getting appointments within days, but my local clinic, in Cumberland, MD, rides herd on our appointments and they do a very good job. I’ve even had video appointments in the local clinic with doctors a hundred or so miles away. I think it’s all about how seriously the administrative folks take their jobs. Dealing with a smaller clinic that has connections to the community seems to serve veterans better.
But, Captain Obvious, the interim Secretary of the department, is on the job;
“In many communities across the country, veterans wait too long for the high quality care they’ve earned and deserve,” acting VA Secretary Sloan Gibson said Thursday.
The department has reached out to 70,000 veterans to get them off waiting lists and into clinics, Gibson said, “but there is still much more work to be done.”
By the way, I just paid for my lifetime membership in the American Legion as a direct result of their work trying to help the VA straighten out this mess in Phoenix. That what the VSOs are supposed to do and they seem to be doing a good job of it.
Category: Veterans' Affairs Department
The focus seems to be on just wait times.
Not malpractice and the intentional and systematic lowering of disability claims.
Green Thumb…Thank you! Lest anyone forget important issues like those happening every day.
I’ve had to wait longer than 30 days for every appointment I had at the VA and 4 months for an ID card.
I don’t go to the VA any longer.
Meanwhile, from another bucket of VA budget money, which to me is inane, since all VA money should go to the care and welfare of veterans, the VA is pursuing…”green energy”. Thanks, that’s gonna help the problems.
I seem to be the exception here. I’ve been retired for four years and the VA has been great to me. I live only five miles from the Albuquerque VA Medical Center, so I don’t have a travel problem.