WENATCHEE - Chelan County’s congresswoman, Kim Schrier, is reportedly answering the call from countless veterans who feel they’ve been stonewalled by Wenatchee’s VA Community Outpatient Clinic. Schrier visited the Wenatchee Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) last Thursday. The CBOC in Wenatchee serves Veterans in six Washington counties.
Earlier this month Rep. Schrier joined the House Veterans Affairs Committee for a hearing with Deputy VA Secretary Donald Remy that was specifically about the Cerner electronic records system that is being first rolled out at the Spokane VA facility and the Wenatchee CBOC satellite facility. In her testimony, Rep. Schrier highlighted that Veterans in the 8th District have been experiencing unacceptable delays in care and specialist referrals, inability to schedule appointments online, and impossible wait times on the phone.
“I waited four months to get my glasses,” a VA patient told Schrier. “I have personally dialed the Wenatchee VA CBOC phone number up to 45 times in a row on one instance, just to see how many times it would take to get through, and every single time I got a busy fax signal,” another Veteran who sought care at the Wenatchee clinic said.
“One issue is that the new electronic records system used at the CBOC is difficult to navigate and often crashes for Veterans and staff at the facility. This means that many Veterans are forced to call the facility for assistance. And the calls often go unanswered. This has led to lessened morale and burnout for staff, and Veterans unable to receive the care they need,” Schrier wrote in press release.
“We cannot reach our clinic and the phone line never goes through,” one VA patient told Schrier’s office. Another one wrote, “I waited 20 months for a colonoscopy referral,” another patient stated.
Shortly after her visit to the clinic in Wenatchee, Schrier penned a letter to Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough. In her letter the Congresswoman said, “I visited the Wenatchee CBOC and spoke with staff there about these issues. I truly believe the doctors and nurses in Wenatchee are doing the best they can under challenging circumstances to care for Veterans, but their jobs have been made exponentially more difficult by the failed rollout of the Cerner health records system in the last year. One doctor told me that she is only able to see half the number of patients she used to. She attributes this to inefficiencies and technology breakdowns of the Cerner electronic health record. While in Wenatchee I was assured that VA leadership in Spokane is working to improve the phone system. That was good to hear, but because this has been such a long-standing problem, I will remain skeptical until I begin hearing from Veterans in my District that their experiences are improving.”
Rep. Schrier ends her letter saying, “My staff and I have been working to understand the causes of the communication dysfunction at the Wenatchee clinic, and it seems there is no one root of the problem, just as there is no one solution. The phone system is clearly not adequate and acts as a barrier to care for far too many patients. The Cerner records system is decreasing productivity among clinic staff and resulting in widespread burnout, which of course impacts patients as well. I urge you to investigate both of these failings in Wenatchee, so Veterans in North Central Washington can consistently rely on the CBOC to receive timely care. Those who have dedicated their lives to serving our country deserve the best service possible from the VA.”