57,000 Waiting for First VA Visit

According to an audit of 731 Veterans Affairs hospitals and clinics, 57,000 patients are still waiting for their initial appointment, and 64,000 who have enrolled over the past decade have never actually been seen. V.A. hospitals and clinics are dealing with a massive backlog that makes the 14-day goal for seeing first-time patients unreachable, the Veterans Affairs Department said Monday. The audit also states that 13 percent of staffers reported they were told by supervisors to falsify appointment dates to make wait times seem shorter.