Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Julia Brownley (D-Westlake Village) issued the following statement in response to the Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA’s) nationwide Access Audit.
“The wait times for new patients within the Greater Los Angeles Health Care System – and the VA as a whole – are absolutely unacceptable,” said Congresswoman Brownley. “This report should serve as a wake-up call to the VA that changes need to be made and they need to be made now, and I intend to hold their feet to the fire until this is fixed. Our veterans deserve no less.”
The Access Audit found that wait times within the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System for “new patients” were 56.24 days for primary care appointments, 55.12 days for specialty care appointments, and 39.29 days for mental health appointments.
The House Veterans’ Affairs Committee is holding a hearing at 7:30 pm on Monday, June 9, 2014 about the results of the VHA’s internal audit, to get an update from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) regarding its 2012 report on wait times, and to get an update regarding the ongoing VA Office of the Inspector General (IG) investigation.
On May 15, 2014, Congresswoman Brownley spearheaded a Southern California congressional delegation letter requesting a full audit of the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, and an audit of the Oxnard Community-Based Outpatient Clinic.
Issues: 113th Congress, Veterans' Affairs