Veteran claims wait to see Phoenix VA doctor nearly two years
Apr 16, 2014, 4:31 PM | Updated: 4:31 pm
PHOENIX — A veteran who lives in the Valley said it took nearly two years for her to see her primary care doctor at the Phoenix Veterans Administration hospital.
Navy veteran Anna Rosas first moved to Phoenix in 2012 from Albuquerque, N.M., where she also received treatment at a VA hospital.
“When I arrived here in Phoenix, within a week I got my veterans card,” she said. “They told me, ‘Wait for the call.’ I waited six months. No call.”
However, Rosas said she did receive a postcard for an appointment in the fall. The VA subsequently canceled that appointment via another postcard. She has contacted the VA by phone, but said she has not gotten a return call in two years.
In March, Rosas ran out of her daily medication and was able to see a doctor after a 30-day wait.
“He gave me a year’s supply, which they’re not supposed to do,” she said, adding that she finally saw her primary care doctor for the first time in April 2014.
Rosas said the VA in New Mexico was nothing like Phoenix. She said the facility was upgraded and orderly, where as the Valley is “chaotic.”
“Here (in Phoenix), they don’t even care,” she said.
While Rosas knows she has no choice but to put up with Arizona’s system while she lives here, she’s aware that problems at the VA could end up costing her.
“I’m afraid of running out of my medicine and they’re not capable of refilling my subscription, so I’m going to have to go out and pay whatever cost I can,” she said.
