A Little Perspective On The VA

The Veterans Administration is dealing with a well-publicized problem.  Some of our servicemen and women requesting medical appointments are experiencing unusually long wait-times before the appointment is granted.  New findings show that 57,000 veterans have waited at least 90 ninety days before seeing the doctor.  And several VA offices have falsified their wait-time records.

It's unacceptable and embarrassing.  I just don't understand why a person must wait 90 days to see a doctor.  We owe our vets better than that.  It's easy pickins for talking heads and cartoonists, but it's not some sinister conspiracy, as the scandal-mongers would have you believe.  It appears to be a case of middle managers retroactively fudging some dates to make their offices, and themselves, look better.

Worked like this:   Today, someone requests a medical appointment immediately/ASAP, but for some reason, things are slow and the appointment doesn't occur until 60 days from today.  After the fact, a VA clerk re-opens the file and changes the appointment request date from what it was -- immediately -- to when it actually happened, making it appear that the individual requested an appointment 60 days hence, got it, and -- voila! -- no wait time.  Aren't we efficient?

No, we're not.  But we're not horrible, either.  The VA handles most of its business in a fairly satisfactory manner.  True, there are 57,000 applicants waiting "long-term".  Who knows why?  But last month the VA processed 6 million appointment requests.

It's too slow and it's not right, but those waiting long-term represent less than one percent of the total.  Not much, but still too much.