HONOLULU (AP) — Wait times are getting shorter for Hawaii’s veterans who need to see a doctor. ADVERTISING HONOLULU (AP) — Wait times are getting shorter for Hawaii’s veterans who need to see a doctor. New patients used to wait
HONOLULU (AP) — Wait times are getting shorter for Hawaii’s veterans who need to see a doctor.
New patients used to wait 145 days to see a primary care physician, but the delay has been reduced to 50 days.
The number of patients on the wait list has shrunk from 1,900 to just 40, said Wayne Pfeffer, director of VA Pacific Islands Health Care System, at an Oahu event organized by the American Legion.
But Vietnam veteran Everett Lee, of Mililani, said he has been waiting more than a year to see a doctor.
“It seems like the books are being cooked again,” Lee said.
Other veterans reported problems getting in for doctor visits.
“I’ve been trying to see one eye doctor (and) I’ve been pushed around,” said Leroy Makekau, who served in Vietnam.
The American Legion has been hosting town hall meetings around the country and is setting up a Veterans Crisis Command Center at the Oahu Veterans Center.
“Veterans were waiting in line for a system they fought for and they were getting worse and they were dying and that’s totally unacceptable,” said Verna Jones, director of the American Legion’s Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Division.
