OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Government data shows wait times for appointments at most U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' medical facilities in Oklahoma are well below the national average, but two of the state's satellite clinics — in Tulsa and Vinita — have struggled to meet the health system's timeliness goal.
VA data reviewed by The Associated Press shows that of the more than 356,000 appointments completed at VA medical facilities in Oklahoma from Aug. 1 to Feb. 28, 6,782 were delayed more than 30 days. That amounts to 1.9 percent of all appointments handled by the health system over those seven months, which is below the national rate of 2.8 percent.
VA officials say the delays at the Vinita clinic spiked during a two-month period last year when a doctor at the clinic retired.