Some 100,000 veterans across the country are waiting long periods to see doctors, according to an internal Department of Veterans Affairs audit released Monday.
The VA says it already has contacted 50,000 veterans trying to get them quicker medical care.
A total of 57,436 veterans across the country have waited 90 days to see a doctor and still did not have an appointment as of May 15, the VA said. The agency also found evidence that in the past 10 years, nearly 64,000 veterans who sought VA care were simply never seen by a doctor.
"VA is moving aggressively to contact these veterans," the audit report said.
Late Monday night, acting VA Inspector General Richard Griffin told a House committee that his investigators identified "some supervisors" in the department who ordered manipulations of appointment data. Griffin says his office is reviewing with the federal prosecutors whether criminal charges will be filed against the VA supervisors.
The systematic manipulation of appointments records across the massive veterans health care system to show high performance when there wasn't any led former secretary Eric Shinseki to resign late last month.
It remains unclear how many veterans were harmed by delays in care, although at least hundreds of thousands within a year's time were forced to wait longer to see a doctor than the ambitious timetable of 14 days established by the agency.Read the rest of the story HERE. Below is a list of the VA's Longest Wait times.
VA facilities where new patients wait the longest for care:
NEW PATIENT PRIMARY CARE LONGEST AVERAGE WAIT TIME:
1. Honolulu, Hawaii: 145 days
2. VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend HCS, Harlingen, Texas: 85 days
3. Fayetteville, North Carolina: 83 days
4. Baltimore HCS, Maryland: 81 days
5. Portland, Oregon: 80 days
6. Columbia, South Carolina: 77 days
7. Central Alabama Veterans HCS, Montgomery, Alabama: 75 days
8. Providence, Rhode Island: 74 days
9. Salt Lake City, Utah: 73 days
10. Richmond, Virginia: 73 daysFind out where the longest waits for New Patient Specialists and Mental Health Care are HERE.
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