Solutions for VA care

As a veteran, a retired VA employee, and a patient of the local Community Out Based Clinic (COBC), I am closely following the story about the problems the Department of Veterans Affairs is currently experiencing.

I would offer a few observations.

First, I have been a patient of the COBC for three and a half years, and to date I am pleased with the treatment I have received.

The VA needs to have managers who will not put pressure on the other employees to make reports which are not fully accurate or ask them to reach goals which are not attainable. For example, a recent Merritt Hawkins survey showed that in the private sector the average wait time for a new patient to see a primary care provider was 19.5 days. Therefore, the VA goal of no more than 14 days for this wait time appears to have been unrealistic.

Some of our elected representatives have said that insufficient funding is not a problem for the VA. This is incorrect. The VA has had 400 unfilled slots for primary care providers. Even if it had filled this staffing level, it would still not have had sufficient personnel to handle the number of individuals entering into the VA system.

Having veterans utilize care providers in the private sector may not prove to be the hoped for solution. The shortage of doctors and other medical professionals is not just a problem at the VA. It is a society-wide problem needing attention.

JOHN PIEPHO, Cape Girardeau