Memphis VA releases info after national audit.

Hospital is one of 4 in state slated for further exam

Jon Graham is a 73-year-old veteran who said Tuesday that he called a Memphis VA Medical Center outpatient clinic for about two months and when this month began, decided to visit the facility to get an appointment. It’s set for mid-July. “If this spot on my face is cancer, it will be almost four months before I find out,” Graham said. “It just seems like they don’t care.”

While the military veteran pondered his future, Dr. C. Diane Knight, the Memphis VA Medical Center director, briefed reporters about results of a national audit of appointment handling and wait times for care and an initiative to accelerate service.

In Tennessee, the Veterans Affairs Department audit redflagged for further review four facilities including the main Memphis hospital on Jefferson, the main campus in Nashville, a community-based outpatient clinic in Chattanooga and in McMinnville, where the VA lists an outpatient clinic

Knight said it isn’t clear why the Memphis facility was redf lagged. About 60 questions were asked of staff interviewed for the audit, which covered the main facility as well as its VArun and contract clinics. Local VA officials haven’t learned what drew attention.

The audit includes snapshot of 48,998 appointments scheduled with Memphis VA, including its clinics in mid-May. Ninety-seven percent, or 47,301, were scheduled to be seen within 30 days or less while 3 percent, or 1,697 would wait for 30 days or more.

New patients waited an average of nearly 50 days for a primary care visit, but existing patients waited an average of slightly more than two days.

During the past 10 years, there were 272 newly enrolled veterans who requested appointments but had not been scheduled.

Knight, echoing announcements on Monday by the acting secretary of Veterans Affairs, Sloan Gibson, pointed to fixes under way.

A 14-day scheduling goal for appointments and the bonuses tied to it are out. A 30-day goal, regardless of whether patients are new or not, is in. New resources, new patient satisfaction measurements and better methods are among changes VA officials promise are coming.

Memphis veterans say they favor cutting the wait time for appointments.

Steve White, 67, of Collierville, said he waited 30 to 60 days to get an appointment. “I think it’s totally unacceptable. Probably they don’t have enough doctors,” White said in an interview.

Everett Baskin, 79, of Cordova, said the VA hospital told him it would be four months to get an appointment for a wheelchair, so he went to an outside agency. “They will hang up on you and put you on hold,” Baskin said.

Peter L. Smith, 67, of Collierville, was among the satisfied veterans.

“On at least two occasions, they have literally saved my life,” Smith said.