On Tuesday, November 25, Senator Warner visited the Hampton V-A Medical Center for an update on efforts to improve scheduling and patient care services. It has been approx. 90 days since Sen. Warner’s Aug. 15^th visit to the facility, after reports surfaced that wait times at the Hampton V-A facility were among the worst in the country.

“We’ve seen improvements in the wait times. Particularly for specialty care, but I think we still need movement for primary care,” Senator Warner said following his visit.

To help the Hampton VAMC implement changes to improve patient care, on December 1, Senator Warner urged the Department of Veteran’s Affairs to provide some flexibility in interpreting and implementing certain portions of the provisions in the Veterans’ Access, Choice, and Accountability Act.

The law allows for veterans living more than 40 miles away from the nearest VA medical facility to receive care from private providers outside the VA health system. However, this 40-mile “straight-line” guideline severely disadvantages certain populations, specifically in Southeast Virginia, which has one of the densest populations of veterans anywhere in the United States.

 Senator Warner requested that the V-A take into consideration driving mileage, not just “as the crow flies” distance when determining which veterans can seek health care outside the V-A system.   

In early August, the President signed V-A reform legislation, which included Sen. Warner’s language requiring a free assessment by several leading private sector Virginia I-T firms on ways the V-A can improve its broken scheduling and patient support systems.  The Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC) specifically studied V-A facilities in Hampton and Richmond in making its report, which was released on Oct. 30.  

Senator Warner remains committed to working with the Department of Veteran’s Affairs and Virginia’s medical centers to ensure that all veterans have access to the health care they have earned.