A review of the White River Junction VA hospital in the wake of a national scandal involving long waits for veterans to receive care found Vermont’s wait times to be better than the national average.
The White River Junction Veterans Administration Medical Center does not require further review, according to a national VA report on wait times released Monday. The Vermont facility sees 98 percent of its patients within 30 days, the report stated, compared to a national average of 96 percent.
From May 12 to June 2, the federal Veterans Affairs office reviewed all 731 VA hospitals and large outpatient clinics nationwide, conducting an investigation on wait times, transparency and efficiency of scheduling systems.
The review was prompted by the deaths of several veterans while awaiting medical services in the Phoenix area, and a coverup of wait times at that facility.
Nationally, the report found over-complicated scheduling processes and uncertainty regarding the term “desired date” in scheduling processes. Thirteen percent of scheduling staff interviewed said they were instructed to enter a desired date different from the date the veteran had requested. The report found that 57,000 new patients waited at least 90 days for a first appointment, about 90 percent of the new cases.
In a conference call with VA Medical Center Director Deborah Amdur, Chief of Mental Health Lanier Summerall and Chief of Primary Care Hugh Huizenga, the White River Junction VA leadership emphasized its commitment to ensure transparency and quality care.
“Our mission is always to provide care in a timely manner,” Amdur said. “There are no surprises for us. We use this as an opportunity … to improve both care and access.”
The federal VA deployed a team to conduct a site visit on May 13, and spent a week in White River, Amdur said. “They met with schedulers, clinic managers, asked a lot of questions, and then came out with the data.”
As a result of the findings, the hospital has identified some departments and clinics where there needs to be increased funding and staff — increased staff in the sleep studies center, dermatology and a new centralized scheduling system.
“In Vermont, 98 percent of veterans get seen within 30 days of making an appointment,” Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said in a released statement. “That’s a good record – better than the VA national average – but not good enough.”
“Legislation that I have introduced with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) would provide additional resources to VA hospitals and clinics across the country so that every veteran in the VA system may get prompt, quality care,” Sanders said. The bill would add more facilities, more money for staff and provide payment when veterans receive care in private hospitals.
Since the national scandal, a request has been filed by staff due to “confusion,” Amdur said, regarding desired appointments and scheduling systems. “Rather than look at this internally, I thought it’d be better to have it be looked at by an outside source,” she continued. “I made the call, personally.”
Investigator General personnel remain at the facility and have not yet released any findings.
Amdur clarified that the complaints were not related to quality of care. “We want to use this as an opportunity to make sure that our operations are sound,” she said. “We’re a very open facility.”
“We will not let performance measures alone design our care,” Amdur added. “And we certainly do use those numbers …, but each individual is the focus of what we do every day. It’s not about numbers, it’s not about dollars, that’s the message we give every day.”
The report made several recommendations, including holding officials responsible for altering records.
