The nearest VA medical center may be hundreds of miles away for some veterans. While VA is beginning to establish a better community presence with community based clinics, veterans still must seek initial appointments at the VAMCs and only scheduled appointments are available at the clinics. Specifically, Pocatello veterans must travel to Salt Lake City, about a 3.5 hour drive, for initial treatment before they can be seen at the Pocatello Community Based Outpatient Clinic, and they must return to Salt Lake City for any type of treatment beyond primary care. There is a three month waiting list for an appointment at the Pocatello clinic. While these facilities only treat veterans who are part of the existing workload, processing at these sites needs to be explored to facilitate veterans access.
Emergency care is also an issue for veterans living in outlying areas.
Emergency personnel responding to a request for assistance take patients to the nearest hospital. For veterans, this often means they incur the cost of this care. The regulations governing authorization of payment of non-VA care are stringent. When veterans are treated at private sector hospitals because of proximity, they are often put in conflict with the regulations and must assume the burden of payment. VA is looking at the issue of emergency services, especially in light of the discussion of consumer rights in the report of the Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry.