DENVER (AP) - El Paso County has the biggest concentration of veterans in Colorado, but government statistics show its VA clinic ranks near the bottom nationwide at getting them in for health care within 30 days.
Statistics reviewed by The Associated Press showed more than 10 percent of the appointments at the clinic from Sept. 1 to Feb. 28 took at least 31 days to schedule, missing the Department of Veterans Affairs' timeliness goal.
That's the highest in the state and 12th-highest out of 940 veterans outpatient clinics and hospitals reviewed nationwide.
The national average was 2.8 percent.
VA spokesman Dan Warvi says the Colorado Springs clinic is feeling the effects of a wave of veterans from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
He said veterans are also part of a general population influx.
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