Arizona senators discuss change in operations at Phoenix VA center

Arizona Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake gathered for a field hearing Monday to discuss patient wait times, the quality of health care and other topics at the Phoenix VA.

BY COOPER RUMMELL

Dec 14, 2015, 3:30 PM

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(AP Photo)

GILBERT, Ariz. — Two Arizona senators held a field hearing Monday in Gilbert to examine the management of the Veterans Affairs health care system in Phoenix.

The hearing was held by Arizona Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake and Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan, all of whom are members of the Senate Committee on Veteran Affairs, to discuss patient wait times, the quality of health care and other topics.

Sen. McCain said while there is progress being made at the VA, there is still a lot of work to be done.

“Wait times at the Phoenix VA is almost double that of wait times of the VA throughout the country,” McCain said. “That is not acceptable and we need a lot more to do.”

The senior senator from Arizona expressed his push for a universal choice card for veterans. He said it would essentially allow former military members the ability to choose any healthcare provider in the private sector and be reimbursed by the VA.

“There are other areas of healthcare where the local provider can provide as good as or better and there is no such thing then of the wait time,” McCain said. “The greatest source of frustration of our veterans is the wait times; they deserve to have their medical needs cared for immediately as any other American that has health insurance.”

The Phoenix VA Health Care System was at the center of a national scandal last year about wait times and other problems that led to a system-wide overhaul.

The former director of the Phoenix operation lost her job amid reports administrators falsified waiting lists in order to collect bonuses.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.