600K Vets Wait Over a Month For VA Care

Although the Veterans Administration has made some gains, more than 600,000 vets–10 percent of all VA patients–continue to have to wait over a month to be seen at clinics and hospitals. The number of patients who have waited more than four months dropped significantly from 120,000 in May to 23,000 in October. Also, from June to October, the VA completed 19 million appointments, up 1.2 million from the same time last year. However, 64 hospitals have wait times of over 60 days for new patients seeking primary care. “While we have significantly improved capacity and access to care, we have not yet achieved our intended state — systemic and timely access across the board. It will be an ongoing and significant effort to reach our goals,” said VA spokesman James Hutton. The VA came under fire earlier this year after long patient waits and forged records were exposed, leading Eric Shinseki to resign from leading the organization.