Local VA facilities' wait times beat national data

By BRIAN WALKER

Hagadone News Network

Local Veterans Affairs medical facilities have better statistics than centers nationwide on patient wait times, but local veterans give the wait-reducing program mixed reviews.

Under a law was passed last August, VA patients who have to wait longer than 30 days for a non-emergency appointment are supposed to be offered a chance to switch to a private-sector doctor at the VA’s expense.

According to data from Sept. 1, 2014, to Feb. 28, 2015, obtained by the Associated Press, 2.37 percent of the total appointments (2,392 of 100,947) at the Mann-Grandstaff Medical Center in Spokane didn’t fall within the 30-day standard.

At the VA’s community-based outpatient clinic (CBOC) in Coeur d’Alene, 1.34 percent of the appointments (137 of 10,224) went beyond the 30-day window.

Nationally, 2.78 percent of the appointments (893,845 of 32,156,618) failed to make the standard from Aug. 1, 2014, to Feb. 28, 2015. The AP collected data from 940 VA hospitals and clinics.

“Our wait times are very good, and any veteran not able to be seen within 30 days of the clinically-indicated date is offered the opportunity to use their Choice Card (intended to ease wait times by giving more vets the option of getting care outside the system),” Linda Reynolds, director of the medical center in Spokane, said in a written statement.

The VA only began auditing and reporting wait times last spring after a scandal over attempts at some facilities to cover up delays by manipulating the scheduling system, so there is no accurate way to compare how the recent numbers compare to previous years.

Reynolds said veterans’ access to local health care has improved in recent months. Congress gave the VA an additional $16.3 million in August to combat the problem of long waits and falsified statistics that were well-known within the agency.

“Through the Veteran’s Choice Act, additional resources were provided to medical centers to accelerate access to care, enabling us to hire additional clinical staff … as well as referring eligible veterans to the community for care if we were not able to schedule an appointment within 30 days,” Reynolds said. “Additionally, we increased access to mental health professionals.”

Vets began receiving the ID cards in November, but so far they’ve gotten only light use. Between Nov. 5 and March 17, according to VA officials, about 46,000 patients had made appointments for private-sector care through the program. That’s a tiny number for a system that averages about 4.7 million appointments per month.

Steven Stiles, resident of Coeur d’Alene and a Vietnam-era Air Force vet, is among those who’ve used the card. He believes there are still many problems to be solved.

Stiles had been waiting since February 2014 for a total knee replacement surgery. He finally had his surgery six weeks ago at Northwest Specialty Hospital in Post Falls.

Stiles said he was bounced around several times trying to set the surgery up and was at his “wit’s end” before contacting Sen. Mike Crapo’s office for help. During the process, he was sent to the Boise VA hospital only to find out the surgery there wouldn’t be for four months.

“It was a real headache that I don’t care to ever have to go through again,” he said. “Veterans deserve better than that. I’ve talked to several other veterans who were in the same situation as me.”

Bill Brooks, resident of Coeur d’Alene and a Vietnam-era Army veteran who formerly directed a hospital in Alaska, said he has mixed feelings about access to VA health care. He believes there is quality care and some leaders are trying to improve the culture, but until the “entrenched bureaucracy” is solved, improvements will be limited.

“The VA is a good place for medicine, but the bureaucracy gets in the way,” Brooks said. “When you have a clerk deciding whether I should receive treatment, that’s wrong. They need a massive culture change, and they’re not getting it.”

Brooks said the VA’s Coeur d’Alene facility is a “model clinic” that was formerly undersized and understaffed before it moved into its new space last year. He hopes other VA facilities can follow its example.

Some other local veterans haven’t had difficulties with their VA care.

Eric Edgar, a Coeur d’Alene veteran, said he moved to the area in January 2014 and hasn’t had to wait more than two weeks to get into the local VA facilities.

Robert Hunt, a Vietnam Navy veteran from Post Falls and commander of the Fort Sherman Chapter of the Disabled American Veterans, said he hasn’t had a problem with appointment times in the 22 years he has been receiving VA care.

He said there have been times when certain departments have been understaffed, but that’s a matter of funding and not necessarily the facility’s fault.

“I haven’t had any big issues with the VA, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t people who haven’t had problems,” Hunt said. “People get emotional about their personal care — and you can’t blame them — but the VA is a very large organization so there’s always going to be issues here and there.”

—The Associated Press contributed to this report.