The Inspector General for Veterans Affairs has verified a host of problems at the VA’s Mat-Su outpatient clinic.
The clinic opened in 2009, but since 2012 the VA has had trouble retaining physicians or other practitioners to fill the two provider slots at the clinic. The report released yesterday says the lack of providers left some patients unable to get timely appointments, resulting in poor quality of care.
Forty patients assigned to the Mat-Su clinic died in the year ending in mid-2014. The inspector general found eight of those patients did not receive adequate access to care.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who requested the report, called its findings “devastating and disappointing.”
The report says the situation has improved more recently. Since 2013, more than 1,000 VA patients have been seen at the Southcentral Foundation clinic in Wasilla, at VA expense.
Liz Ruskin is the Washington, D.C., correspondent at Alaska Public Media. Reach her at lruskin@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Liz here.
