No local VA site met the agency's 30-day goal

Wait times at Philadelphia-area VA hospitals and clinics were far from the nation's worst in recent months, but none met the agency's goal of ensuring that no patient waits more than 30 days for a nonemergency appointment.

The Cumberland County, N.J., outpatient clinic in Vineland had the longest average wait times in the region during the six-month period ending in February, with 6.1 percent of appointments requiring a wait of at least 31 days.

The Victor J. Saracini clinic in Horsham was not far behind, with wait times of at least 31 days in 5.4 percent of cases. The Wilmington VA Medical Center saw delays of 31 days or more in 4.4 percent of cases, followed by the Philadelphia VA Medical Center at 3.7 percent.

Delays in Cumberland County were caused in part by an unplanned leave taken by the clinic's primary-care provider, said James A. Coty, a spokesman for the clinic and its parent facility, the Wilmington center. During that several-week absence, Wilmington's associate chief of staff for ambulatory care treated patients who needed to be seen immediately, Coty said.

"We recognize there are always opportunities for improvement," Coty said, "and continue to focus our efforts on reducing wait times by continuing to review scheduling practices to assure we maximize efficiency, evaluating staffing levels, and working to secure expanded space to increase services."

The Philadelphia VA said it was working to increase staffing and redesign workflow to ensure prompt treatment. The hospital also contracts out for some services to improve specialty-care access, spokeswoman Jennifer Askey said.

The Coatesville VA Medical Center, the Springfield VA Clinic, and a clinic at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst all were far better than the national average, with less than 1 percent of patients having to wait more than 30 days for an appointment.

Long waits for appointments are not unique to VA facilities.

In a 2013 survey by Merritt Hawkins, a health-care recruitment and consulting firm, the average wait for a first-time appointment with a family physician ranged from five days in the Dallas area to 66 in Boston.

The Philadelphia region fell in between, at 21 days. In each metro area, surveyors called up to 20 physician practices in each of five specialty areas.

215-854-2430 @TomAvril1