An audit released Monday by the
Department of Veterans Affairs revealed the wait time for new patients seeking
a primary care doctor at the VA Center in Clarksburg
“When we looked at the numbers
today, we were surprised at our wait times,” Beth Brown, Director of the Louis
A. Johnson VA Medical Center said. “I’m having staff drill down to look,
specifically, at the numbers of patients that are needing a visit within 14
days of a new patient.”
Overall, the audit showed more than
57,000 veterans waiting to be scheduled for care and another nearly 64,000
veterans enrolled in the VA health system in the past decade who have never
received an appointment.
By Brown’s count, the number of
these patients is low.
“As of [Monday] morning, we only
had four patients that needed an appointment,” she said. “So we want to go back
and drill down to look at the data and make sure that if we’ve got some
outliers that we’re not aware of, that we can find out where those are.”
According to Brown, part of the
“drill down” will consist of going deeper and more thoroughly into numbers they
keep track of daily.
“We look into our numbers everyday
as to the number of patients that are scheduled and in what types of clinics
they’re scheduled. Then, weekly we also drill down to look at specific delays
into getting an appointment.”
VA guidelines set a goal for
veterans to be seen within 14 days of their desired date for an appointment,
however, the audit has deemed this goal “unattainable” due to a lack of
resources and increasing demand.
At this time, Brown is not sure if
this goal is truly out of reach due to the reasons laid out in the findings,
but does know the medical center will still strive for the previous target.
“We’re going to try to get the
patients in as soon as possible,” she said. “Fourteen days is a very rigorous
goal. I think that if you don’t have a goal to try to attain, then you may not
have the emphasis on that.”
Other VA facilities West Virginians look to for care also were found to not
be meeting the target. Martinsburg’s wait time is 47 days; Beckley ’s
is 39 days; Huntington ’s is just under 29 days; Pittsburgh
The audit recommended additional
review at numerous facilities, including four in West Virginia
The Clarksburg
and Martinsburg medical centers both were flagged for further investigation, as
well as the Westover and Wood
County
“I think it’s important to remember
that our veterans are our number one priority and that we will do everything
that we can to make sure that they receive the timely care and the quality of
care that they deserve,” Brown said.
The numbers were released Monday by the Department of Veterans
Affairs as part of a national audit.
