CINCINNATI (AP) — Five Veterans Affairs medical
facilities in Ohio scheduled most of their patients for appointments
within 30 days, but the average wait time for many new enrollees to be
seen was more than a month, according to a VA audit released Monday.
The
VA says more than 57,000 patients nationwide have been waiting three
months or more for initial medical appointments at VA hospitals and
clinics. The data was released amid a growing scandal over long wait
times for veterans.
In Ohio, audit findings show that the medical
centers in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chillicothe and Dayton scheduled all
but 2 percent of their patient appointments within 30 days, but the
average wait time for new enrollees ranged from more than 25 days to
nearly 53 days at some of the facilities.
The Chalmers P. Wylie VA
Ambulatory Center in Columbus scheduled 94 percent, or more than 34,000
of nearly 37,000 appointments within 30 days. But the average wait for
new enrollees there was nearly 36 days with more than 1,700 waiting
between 31 and 60 days and nearly 300 waiting between 61 and 90 days.
The
Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center had more than 960 new
enrollees waiting between 31 and 60 days and more than 100 waiting
between 61 and 90 days. The Cincinnati VA Medical Center had 670 waiting
within 31 and 60 days and more than 260 waiting more than two months.
The
Cleveland and Cincinnati medical centers were among 81 sites from 216
visited in the first phase of the audit that the VA has said will
require further review. The VA said the initial assessment of sites
requiring further review was based on a review of responses by
front-line staff to questions contained in site audit reports.
Messages
seeking comment from the Cleveland and Cincinnati facilities were not
immediately returned. The Columbus center referred calls for comment to
the VA’s national office.
The department says the audit of 731 VA
hospitals and large outpatient clinics found that the agency’s
complicated appointment process created confusion among scheduling
clerks and supervisors.
Harry Prestanski, a Vietnam veteran and
executive director of Ohio Veterans United, said he was concerned by the
audit findings nationally and in Ohio.
"It’s disturbing that wait times are so long," he said.
But
Prestanski said he is even more concerned because he believes too many
veterans do not live within easy access of existing VA centers to get
treatment.
"I think they should find a way to let veterans use
their health benefits at other hospitals instead of building more brick
and mortar VA monuments," he said.