El Paso VA clinic had troubling but improving care stats

As the investigation into the shooting at the El Paso Veteran’s Affairs Clinic continues Wednesday, ABC-7 is also looking into the clinic’s record of care. It was just last year when the VA was rocked by a scandal involving long wait times for appointments.

In terms of wait times and services, the VA at Beaumont Army Medical Center had been having trouble in the recent past but had also seen improving numbers more recently.

U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke polled local veterans on their dissatisfaction with VA wait times earlier last year, and federal auditors released initial findings for mental health care last June.

It showed that more than 36 percent who tried to schedule an appointment couldn’t do so. Also, it took an average of 71 days between the request for an appointment and actually seeing a provider, and 77 percent of those requesting a mental health care appointment waited more than 14 days to see a provider.

In fact, the El Paso VA was ranked in the top 10 longest waits for new patients seeking mental health care in Texas, some of the nation’s worst wait times.

But a new report in December said the VA clinic has since improved. The study, conducted by the VA’s office of inspector general said that as of December, El Paso VA clinics met the 30-day access benchmark in mental health. The average numbers of days until an appointment was made dropped to 23. The report also found that nine out of 10 new patients seeking care from a psychiatrist or psychologist waited 30 days or fewer for an appointment.

Even with the improvement, the report said that while “the number of clinical providers was sufficient to provide timely access to care, many don’t spend enough time on direct patient care, particularly for MH (mental health).” The report also said that “doctor productivity at the EP VA is lower than at other VA facilities, in the areas of psychology” among others.

The VA clinic at Beaumont remained closed Wednesday.