Last year, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki was forced to resign because of the scandal surrounding the amount of time veterans had to wait for care. Apparently, those concerns are still an issue.
CNN released a critical assessment of the Veterans Administration, charging that thousands of veterans in Los Angeles are waiting six months to be seen by a doctor. In addition, administrators may have been fudging wait times in an attempt to mislead Congress.
“The average wait time for a new patient right now is about four days,” Dr. Skye McDougall, the acting director of the Desert Pacific Healthcare Network, Veterans Health Administration, testified before the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.
But McDougall’s statement is simply not true.
According to the Los Angeles VA’s documents dated January 15, the actual average wait time for new patients at the VA was 48 days. A half-dozen medical and administrative sources inside the LA VA system corroborate these waits.
The delay in care is particularly alarming given the sharp increase in veteran suicides. In Los Angeles, the average amount of time for a new mental health patient to be seen at the VA is 36 days. Needless, to say this delay is alarming given the situation many returning veterans face.
https://youtu.be/JEmZ3BL9JVI
What action should be taken at the Veterans Administration to ensure our military heroes get the care they deserve? Please comment below.