Following the release of our report on real wait times for primary and mental health care at the El Paso VA on Wednesday, I spoke yesterday with the interim chief of the Veterans Health Administration, Dr. Robert Jesse, and the director of the El Paso VHA clinic, John Mendoza. Here is the upshot of our conversation: 1. Dr. Jesse and Mr. Mendoza committed to tracking down the 36% of veterans in El Paso seeking mental health care who were unable to obtain an appointment. We will get a written plan of action, milestones and timeline shortly. 2. They also renewed the commitment to fully staffing mental health positions in El Paso by the end of July, and having them over-hired by the end of August. We have had as many as 19.5 funded but vacant mental health positions at any one time in the last 17 months. The goal is zero by end of July. 3. I told them my next priority is learning how there could be such a large deviation between what the VA was reporting on wait times and what El Paso veterans were really experiencing. I hope to have their help in this, but regardless, I will pursue this and ensure that if we learn that there is a policy or practice that hid, distorted or otherwise obfuscated wait time data -- that those responsible will be brought to justice. 4. Dr. Jesse and I discussed a visit by him to El Paso to investigate these issues personally and meet the veterans in this community who have earned access to the highest quality care our country can provide. I will continue to provide updates as I get more information. elpasotimes/opinion/ci_25898584/survey-raises-questions-el-paso-va-clinic
Posted on: Fri, 06 Jun 2014 16:28:08 +0000
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