DOVER, Del. (AP) - Government data on Veterans Administration medical facilities show higher than average wait times at two Delaware facilities in recent months.
According to figures reviewed by The Associated Press, the outpatient clinic in Georgetown ranked 11th among more than 900 facilities nationwide in the percentage of completed appointments from September to February with wait times of more than 30 days.
The 10.4 percent figure for Georgetown was well above the national average of about 2.8 percent. The 4.4 percent figure for the VA hospital in Elsmere also exceeded the national average, while the Kent County outpatient clinic and the mobile clinic in Wilmington were below the national average.
Officials say they've taken steps to address long wait times in Sussex County, including hiring a part-time primary care provider last fall.
Maryland
The Associated Press also found that thousands of Maryland VA medical appointments didn't meet the agency's goal of seeing patients within 30 days.
About 8,800 of more than 300,000 appointments completed during the six-month period ending Feb. 28 didn't meet that goal. The failure rate at Maryland facilities was 2.9 percent, or roughly one in 34 visits. The national rate was 2.8 percent.
The state's worst-performing facility was an outpatient clinic in Glen Burnie, near Baltimore, with a failure rate of 8.1 percent over the six-month period.
The VA says the clinic had lost two of its five primary care providers. It says those positions have been filled.
The VA says its adding providers elsewhere to improve wait times in Maryland.
Virginia
A home to U.S. naval power, the Hampton Roads region of southeastern Virginia also ranks among the worst places for a vet to get a timely appointment to see a Veterans Affairs doctor.
Out of all VA medical centers nationwide, the hospital in Hampton had the fourth-highest percentage of waits topping 30 days.
More than 7.3 percent of the 151,300 appointments completed at the medical center between Sept. 1 and Feb. 28 failed to meet the VA's timeliness goal, which calls for patients to be seen in 30 days or less.
Hospital officials say they're adding medical professionals and expanding facilities for a booming military population.
