Report: El Paso VA among worst for new patient wait times

Four medical centers serving veterans in Texas have some of the nation’s worst wait times for new patients, according to a report in the Austin American-Statesman.

A federal audit report released Monday shows that centers in Amarillo, El Paso and Dallas ranked in the top 10 longest waits for new patients seeking mental health care.

Read the full Austin American-Statesman article at http://bit.ly/1pC4Kb6

On June 4, El Paso Congressmen Beto O’Rourke released the results of a recent survey of local veterans that was initiated by his office.

He said the results prove that the troubled Veteran’s Administration cannot be trusted.

He made the remarks at a news conference on June 4, pointing out there are nearly 80,000 veterans in the El Paso area. The survey, which cost O’Rourke’s office $7,000, involved nearly 700 veterans who have sought either mental health or primary care from the VA in El Paso.

“I had a son who volunteered,” Bonnie D’Amico said before choking up as she described her son Nick’s long battle to get mental health care from the El Paso VA. “They gave us an appointment for four months.”

She said that appointment was rescheduled, then her son took his own life while waiting for care.

“He drove off Trans Mountain,” D’Amico said through tears. “I think this could have been prevented had he had the mental health (care) he needed.”

O’Rourke didn’t mince words when it comes to the VA.

“This country has failed miserably in meeting its obligations to the service members who represent this country so well,” O’Rourke said June 4.

The survey O’Rourke commissioned found more than 36 percent of veterans who tried to schedule a mental health appointment said they were unable to get one. It also found an average of 71 days between the request and an actual appointment and 77 percent of those requesting an appointment indicated they waited more than 14 days.

The El Paso VA has claimed 85 to 100 percent of veterans get mental health help within 14 days.

“It seems to confirm what we hear every day in this office,” O’Rourke said, “what you all have witnessed at our town hall meetings, veteran after veteran coming forward and saying, ‘I can’t get in to see a doctor.'”

The survey found veterans reported an average of 85 days to see a provider for routine health care. Nearly 72 percent waited more than 14 days and almost 35 percent were unsatisfied with the quality of care.

“Trying to seek that care has been very difficult,” said retired Army chaplain Melinda Russell, who said her medical records showed that appointments cancelled by the VA were being blamed on her. “It makes it look like they are trying to treat us when in fact they are cancelling our appointments.”

O’Rourke said that may be the reason for all the differences in percentages.

El Paso VA Director John Mendoza issued a statement saying he “shares Congressman O’Rourke’s concerns.”

O’Rourke, a member of the House Committee on Veteran’s Affairs, plans to meet with Mendoza Thursday morning, as well as the acting Undersecretery of Health, Dr. Robert Jesse, to discuss the findings of the survey. He added he will file a bill called the “Ask Veterans Act” to conduct similar surveys of all VA facilities.

Related Content:

Read the full findings from O’Rourke’s survey athttp://1.usa.gov/1tIwScL

Read recent Department of Veterans Affairs reviews of El Paso VA care