VA audit of veterans' health care wait times finds Anchorage satisfactory

http://www.adn.com/2014/06/09/3509557/va-audit-of-veterans-health-care.html?sp=/99/188/189/288/

VA audit of veterans' health care wait times finds Anchorage satisfactory
By TEGAN HANLON
June 9, 2014 Updated 8 hours ago

An internal audit released Monday by the Department of Veterans Affairs on its health care facilities found that in Anchorage 99 percent of veterans could schedule appointments within 30 days, a wait time better than that at many facilities across the country.

Eric Shinseki, former secretary of the VA, had ordered the nationwide audit before he resigned in May, embroiled in scandal over mismanaged facilities and hidden wait lists. Federal investigators flagged 112 veterans health care sites in the audit because of concerns about scheduling practices. The Alaska VA Healthcare System in Anchorage was not one of them.

"We are very pleased with the audit's findings, showing that Alaska VA utilizes appropriate scheduling practices," Greg Puckett, associate director of the Alaska VA Healthcare System, wrote in an email. "We are proud of the hard work and dedication of our employees providing care to veterans."

Audit teams visited 731 health care providers between May 12 and June 3. On May 15 in Anchorage, there were 6,261 appointments scheduled. All but 78 of those were scheduled within 30 days. Thirty-eight veterans sat on an electronic waiting list. A new patient had to wait about 29 days to see a primary care provider in Anchorage and established patients waited about one day, said the audit.