VA Secretary Announces New Funding For El Paso Facility
Acting Veterans Affairs Secretary Sloan Gibson meet with administrators of a troubled outpatient clinic in El Paso on Friday where veterans report waiting up to two months for mental health care.
One of the biggest challenges at the El Paso VA is recruiting and retaining medical professionals. Gibson announced an infusion of $5.2 million that will help the facility find new hires and pay for overtime.
"I think what we have here is a situation of sustained underinvestment," Gibson said.
U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, who represents this district, commissioned a local survey last month that showed wait times at the El Paso VA averaged between 70 and 80 days — among the highest in the nation.
O'Rourke highlighted the story of one local veteran who committed suicide while waiting for his scheduled appointment with a psychiatrist. O'Rourke said health care providers at the facility told him their pay was too low.
"They are leaving jobs where they are paid tens of thousands of dollars more, sometimes in the private sector, sometimes across the way at the Department of Defense," he said.
In June the El Paso VA began an internal hotline for veterans to report delayed medical care. They also set an August deadline to fill 19 unstaffed positions within their mental health department.
