An internal audit by the federal Department of Veterans Affairs shows Bay Area vets are waiting a month or more on average to get their first primary care appointment. That monthlong wait time is on par with the national average, and much better than some regions, where veterans are waiting more than twice that long.
Besides the long wait times, auditors flagged a Livermore clinic as one of 112 sites slated for "further review." A Livermore employee reportedly told auditors that workers there had been instructed to schedule patients in a way not consistent with VA guidelines.
East Bay Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell represents Livermore and says he's been in touch with the clinic's staff.
"We're kind of in a wait-and-see posture as to what's occurring there," Swalwell said Tuesday. "But I can just say that from our experience with our 250 veterans cases that we have in our office, we do not have a single open case that relates to a veteran having a prolonged wait time."
Swalwell said he's signed onto several bills that would upgrade the VA's outdated scheduling system.