BALTIMORE — How long should it take to get care after seeing a doctor? For the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG), the answer is certainly not 45 days.
WATCH: OIG report spurs changes: VA Maryland speeds up community care for veterans
A recent OIG report found that appointments through the VA Maryland Health Care System’s Community Care program were sometimes delayed for more than six weeks, well beyond the recommended seven days.
“In interviewing leaders, they described their hiring efforts to be approximately 100 people they had recently hired just to manage community care coordination and scheduling… we had a couple of questions like, wow, that's a lot of staff just to manage scheduling and coordination,” said Julie Kroviak, Acting Assistant Inspector General with the VA OIG.
While most veterans might not experience critical harm from such delays, Kroviak says timely care is essential for those with more serious needs.
“It is that section of patients who actually need more... I don't want to say urgent, but more timely care, and the type of care they need is likely going to trigger other types of care,” Kroviak added.
The VA Maryland Health Care System says it has already made significant improvements since the OIG review, which was based on visits and interviews conducted from June through September 2024.
In a statement to WMAR-2 News, a spokesperson said:
“Since then, the VA Maryland Health Care System has reduced the number of days it takes to schedule community care appointments from the 45 days listed in the OIG report to an average of 27 days, and continues to work toward improving this process.
In FY2025, the VA Maryland HCS community care team has seen an increase of more than 7,500 additional requests for community care appointments compared to the same time frame as FY24. Currently, the VA Maryland HCS is receiving 6,000 requests per month for care in the community.
The Care in the Community team continues to prioritize connecting Veterans to appropriate care as quickly as possible by using technology, such as secure messaging and the VetText app, to communicate with Veterans. The team has also implemented overtime for scheduling care and continues to recruit staff to keep up with increasing demand for community care.”
Navy veteran Bruce Simons, who served more than 20 years, including during Desert Storm, says he’s had a positive experience with the program in recent years.
“I’m proud of what the Care in the Community program is doing for us veterans because they offer us a way of getting treated on the spot,” said Simons. “I went to the podiatry and they gave me insoles... already I’m getting support to help my flat feet and also my arthritis in my knees.”
Still, Simons believes access for all veterans can improve.
“Service-related and combat-related veterans are getting treated a little bit differently, and they get priority… So this is where we need to figure out how to handle the people that are not,” he said.
The VA Maryland Health Care System says it will continue streamlining scheduling, hiring more staff, and using technology to shorten wait times. The OIG requires the case to be closed within a year.