Document text
0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Pacific Northwest cities enact voluntary water reductions ... Flores-Zambrano pleads guilty in drug-trafficking case ... County Justice Court construction breaks ground Wednesday ... Pacific Northwest cities enact voluntary water reductions ... Flores-Zambrano pleads guilty in drug-trafficking case ... County Justice Court construction breaks ground Wednesday ... WHITE CITY Staffing shortages keep vets waiting at SORCC Comment By Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Posted Apr. 12, 2015 at 2:00 AM By Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Posted Apr. 12, 2015 at 2:00 AM » RELATED CONTENT • CHART: Veterans' wait times at Oregon VA facilities • VA clinics statewide can't compete with private sector » Social News Some veterans in the area — particularly those seeking specialty care — are still experiencing lengthy wait times despite a concentrated effort by the Southern Oregon Rehabilitation Center and Clinics to hire additional providers and implement new scheduling practices. About 2.5 percent of all appointments — 1,495 out of 59,479 — at the SORCC between Sept. 1 and Feb. 28 were delayed more than a month, according to data provided by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and compiled by The Associated Press. And 255 of those appointments involved a wait time of more than 90 days. While the SORCC completed nearly as many appointments in that six-month period as the Salem, Eugene and East Portland VA clinics combined, it had a lower percentage of patients waiting 31 days or more for care than nine of the 15 VA clinics in the state. But of the 940 VA hospitals and outpatient clinics nationwide included in the AP’s report, it ranked 53 for highest number of patients waiting more than 90 days for care. It’s been nearly a year since the U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs ordered a nationwide audit because of off-the-books scheduling practices and a mismanagement of VA resources, among other things, at several VA facilities. Since the passage of the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act last August, VA facilities and clinics nationwide have received funding to hire additional staff and expand facilities in an effort to reduce wait times. The bill also allowed veterans enrolled in the VA health care system to access private-sector care through a third-party administrator if they live more than 40 miles from the nearest VA medical facility or if they are unable to secure an appointment at a VA medical facility within 30 days. The SORCC was allocated $1.69 million, enough to fund 23 additional employees, and so far it has hired five new employees and offered jobs to 15 other people who are at various stages of the hiring process, said SORCC spokeswoman Rhonda Haney. Psychologists, medical support assistants and social workers were among those hired, and psychiatrists are still needed, said Monica Mortimer-Lamb, SORCC’s business manager. “We have such a large resident population — 490 (Friday) morning — who are all receiving mental health treatment, as well as a lot of outpatients,” Mortimer-Lamb said. “It’s very difficult to recruit psychiatrists and psychiatric social workers,” she added. “They’re tough to find anywhere, and they’re especially tough to find in rural areas.” Veterans requiring urgent care are seen immediately, and those needing primary care are typically seen by a VA provider within a month. But wait times continue to be a problem for folks with specialty care needs, such optometry and orthopedics, Mortimer-Lamb said. If the wait time does exceed the VA’s timeliness standard, those veterans are referred to a third-party administrator, TriWest Healthcare Alliance, and connected with a private-sector provider. “Initially, people were excited about (this option), but it’s a cumbersome process to have to go through a third-party administrator to access care and sometimes that’s difficult … and the wait times can be just as long out in the community,” she said. And if a veteran sees a private-sector optometrist and is prescribed glasses, he'll still have to make an appointment with the VA to order the glasses due to contractual rules between the VA and TriWest. Last summer, SORCC lost two optometrists. One of the positions has since been filled, and the other will be filled in June “so by the end of this summer we should be back to seeing our optometry patients within 30 days, which is the goal,” Mortimer-Lamb said. Despite staffing shortages, SORCC has continued to grow by 100 to 200 patients every month, including 809 new patients between the beginning of October and the end of March. “We had a 5 percent increase in the number of veterans overall in 2013-14,” Mortimer-Lamb said. “We don’t count the number of visits. We count the number of individual patients and that has steadily increased for us over the last three or four years.” Mortimer-Lamb said the increase could be owed to more veterans moving to the area to retire and more veterans enrolling in the VA health care system because of the Affordable Care Act. "There's a reason why veterans sometimes wait for care because the care that is provided is far more comprehensive than what they receive in the private sector," she said. Reach reporter Teresa Thomas at 541-776-4497 or [email protected] . Follow her at www.twitter.com/teresathomas_mt . By Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Posted Apr. 12, 2015 at 2:00 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... Business Name address Location, ST | website.com Find Southern Oregon Attractions Bars Restaurants Beauty Salons Entertainment Doctors Medical Specialists Contractors Education Lawn Services Lawyers Shopping Travel Tanning Used Cars Wedding Services ▼ Add your business here + Events Calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2015 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Local Media Group Publications Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted. MailTribune.com | P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501