VA wait times
These are official VA figures on the average number of days a new patient waits for a first appointment at the respective VA medical centers. VA investigators say they have found evidence that some facilitites falsified data and that wait times were actually longer. Other than Phoenix, it’s not known which centers are implicated.
Worst: Nashville, 65 days; Fayetteville, NC, 56.8 days; Atlanta, 56.5 days
Average: 27 days
Best: Clarksburg, WV, 7.7 days
Source: USA Today
Faced with a demand it couldn’t meet for mental health care, the Atlanta VA directed hundreds of veterans to private clinics — slashing its own waiting list but resulting in long waits for care at those clinics. Some vets who fell through the cracks took their own lives. Read the full story only in MyAjc.com.
A quick X-ray at a Rockdale hospital revealed the bladder stones troubling Terence Robinson. But getting relief, which depended on the Atlanta VA Medical Center, took months of painful waiting.
“Every time I used the bathroom it hurt real bad,” said the 52-year-old Army veteran from Conyers.
Robinson was told the first open appointment was six weeks away. Five months would pass before he underwent surgery in July, 2012.
By then, the pain was coupled with his growing inability to control his bladder. He stayed in the house a lot, and any plan to go out in public had to include a bathroom nearby. Sometimes he passed blood in his urine.
“I thought there was nothing I could do about it but wait,” he said.
As a nationwide scandal grows over long wait times at VA medical facilities, the Atlanta center stands out among the worst. The center had the third longest average wait time — 56.5 days — for new patients, according to a report by USA Today. Nashville had the longest, 65 days. Fayetteville, N.C., was second at 56.8 days.
Nationwide, the average wait for care for a new patient was 27 days, nearly double the target of 14 days, according to the USA Today article. The newspaper reviewed six months of VA records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.
The problem may actually be considerably worse. Among allegations under scrutiny by the VA’s Office of Inspector General are complaints that numerous VA centers manipulated records to hide actual wait times.
In a report issued Wednesday, the IG said auditors “have identified instances of manipulation of VA data that distort the legitimacy of reported waiting times” at a number of facilities.
Forty-two facilities are under review; VA officials would not say whether Atlanta is among them.
Long wait times, especially for psychiatric services, are no secret at the Atlanta VA. Some veterans complain that they also run up against lost records, bureaucratic foul-ups, turnover among doctors and staff, as well an attitude of indifference.
“It’s just a hassle. Appointments six months apart. C’mon,” said Billy Darby, president of the Cumming Vietnam Veterans of America. “They talk to you like a dog.”
Atlanta VA officials acknowledge the current wait times are unacceptable. VA facilities are struggling with an increase in vets who’ve come home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, many of them with injuries. In addition, Baby Boomer veterans are reaching the age when they need more care.
“Access is a challenge at the Atlanta VA Medical Center, and we are actively working to expand available appointments, increase extended hours for clinics and hire additional providers,” said facility spokesman Gregory Kendall.
Kendall said the facility is working to validate its data on wait times for patient care.
To improve access to care, construction is under way on an outpatient clinic in downtown Decatur, and officials are seeking congressional approval for another in Cobb County.
With both Democrats and Republicans calling for his removal, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki resigned Friday over the mounting scandal over falsified wait times.
“We need accountability,” Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson told Shinseki during a hearing on the issue last month. “Let’s hold the system accountable. Let’s make sure no veteran dies because of a failure of the system.”
In Atlanta, mental health care has been a particular sore spot. In 2010, more than 500 veterans were on a waiting list to receive mental health services. Sixteen attempted suicide.
The VA’s solution was to refer more vets to outside treatment facilities. But by 2012, that move merely created a large waiting list of vets waiting for service in these outside clinics, according to a review by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Last year, federal audits linked the deaths of three veterans to inadequate oversight by hospital staff after the patients were referred elsewhere for treatment. The death of a fourth veteran, who committed suicide in a VA hospital bathroom, later came to light. The head of the hospital and the mental health director were replaced.
Former Army nurse Lynne Rollins, state commander of the American Legion, said many vets have given up on seeking care at the Atlanta VA over the years. But the recession have left many without any alternative insurance.
“They’re left without an option, so they have to wait,” she said.
Jack Shaft is among those who lost their insurance. The 65-year-old Navy vet found out in April he needs surgery for hemorrhoids, but the Atlanta VA said he’d have to wait three months for the procedure. He said he’s had several testy exchanges with VA staff, trying to move up the date.
“Why do I have to wait three months?” said Shaft, who lives in Atlanta. “They don’t care. They basically don’t care.”
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