With national attention on the length of time it can take for a veteran to get a first appointment with a VA clinic, construction crews are finishing up a new VA clinic located in Sorrento Valley.
The new facility will have four teams of primary care providers, who will most likely invest in business card printing to promote their roles. The building will have 22 exam rooms for patients, and will provide mental healthcare and nutrition services, as well as regular healthcare to veterans.
Currently, the VA Medical Center in La Jolla, as well as the other clinics that serve the region, are operating at or very near to capacity, according to Robert Smith, the VA Medical System Chief of Staff.
Nationwide, the media has called attention to the average wait time of at least three months before thousands of veterans are able to get their first VA appointment. San Diego’s system has not seen such dramatic wait times; in general, current patients are able to see their doctor within two weeks, although officials did acknowledge to KPBS that new patients often have to wait as long as six weeks.
All veterans around San Diego make their appointments through the call center in Mission Valley, which is receiving around 10,000 calls a week. While waiting for funding to help veterans get treatment outside the system, and for new clinics to open, existing clinics are often offering evening and weekend hours to help see as many patients as possible.
The clinic is scheduled to open later this summer.
