Local veteran shares her story about wait times at Durham VA hospital
DURHAM (WTVD) -- New figures from the Veterans Administration reveal exactly how long military veterans in Durham and Fayetteville are waiting to see a doctor at the VA.
Between May 15 and June 1, there were close to 67,000 appointments made at the Durham VA Hospital. Of those appointments scheduled, nearly 3,400 had a waiting period longer than 60 days.
In Fayetteville, there were more than 47,000 appointments made. More than 5,700 veterans are being forced to put their concerns on hold for more than two months.
Thursday, the I-Team sat down with one local veteran who has experienced those long wait times firsthand.
The vet, who didn't want to be identified, was so bothered by her own story that she contacted the I-Team. It's not just about a story about long wait times, but about what she thinks could have happened during that wait.
"I thought it's never going to get any better unless we come forward and show this," she said.
By this, this former Marine means a letter. It's a confirmation of an appointment set by the VA back in March. The date they chose was Dec.31.
"I thought she had misspoken. I said, 'December?' And she said, 'Yes ma'am.' And I said, 'nine-and-a-half months from now,'" said the veteran.
Like many vets, she has been dialed into the ongoing scandal over wait times at the VA. She simply can't believe the claim that average wait times at the Durham VA are around 30 days.
"When I saw they said they were at 67 days, and now were down to 31, I thought, 'No, no,'" said the veteran.
She says her case is particularly troubling because of what she had to wait nine months for -- a mental health evaluation. She says she went to the VA for a routine physical, but was told to come back for a neuropsychological evaluation, or neurocognitive testing.
Her sense was that they wanted to see if she was balanced.
"Evidently, she felt that I needed this care and it's pushed back more than nine months. That's a concern," said the veterans.
As shocking as the wait time was, she says the way it was conveyed was even more startling.
"It's like she didn't even blink an eye.'We have an opening on Dec. 31' and this is the middle of March," said the veteran. "She said, 'Yes ma'am.' Like that was nothing. Like she had said that a thousand times. How many veterans are between now and then? How many are the middle of December, the middle of November, and the middle of October. That is absolutely not 31 days away. So there are a lot of us that are waiting for this."
In June, the VA freed up money to let vets with extremely long wait times go to private doctors. This vet apparently qualified.
She says she got another phone call in June which moved her appointment to July, which was still more than four months after a doctor flagged her mental health as a possible concern.
"I don't think that I'm a danger to myself or others, but what about the person who is," asked the veteran.
Thursday afternoon, we talked to a spokesperson for the VA about this story. He didn't know the specifics of this veteran's case, and we didn't offer her name.
We were told mental health tends to be thinly staffed, and that the doctor who recommended a neuropsychological evaluation didn't consider this vet's case to be urgent.
We were told that, if that was the case, that the appointment would have been moved up.
