(WA) 59-day wait for new local VA patients, audit shows

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/06/09/3235658/59-day-wait-for-new-local-va-patients.html?sp=/99/289/&ihp=1

New patients seeking care at Puget Sound veterans hospitals wait an average of 59 days for an appointment ­— more than four times longer than the VA’s performance goal of 14 days, according to a national VA audit published Monday.

59-day wait for new local VA patients, audit shows
By Adam Ashton
Staff writer
June 9, 2014 Updated 10 hours ago

The VA released the report amid a national scandal that emerged from reports of staff in Phoenix covering up delays by falsifying records on patient wait times. Veteran Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki resigned May 30 in the scandal’s fallout.

So far, VA Puget Sound, with hospitals in Lakewood and Seattle, has not been linked to fabricated wait-time reports.

The new audit does say those hospitals’ scheduling practices should receive “further review.” But that does not necessarily signal wrongdoing because auditors called for another look at nearly every VA hospital in the country.

“VA Puget Sound administrators were unaware, until the report was released, that it had been selected for additional review,” Puget Sound VA spokesman Chad Hutson said in an email Monday.

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The longest waits

VA medical facilities with the longest average wait times as of May 15 for new patients seeking care, in number of days:

1. Honolulu: 145
2. Harlingen, Texas: 85
3. Fayetteville, N.C.: 83
4. Baltimore Hsc: 81
5. Portland, Ore.: 80
6. Columbia, S.C.: 77
7. Montgomery, Ala.: 75
8. Providence, R.I.: 74
9. Salt Lake City: 73
10. Richmond, Va.: 73
...

23. Puget Sound: 59

Sources: AP, McClatchy