Is the VA Listening? Vets Say They’re Still Waiting, Still Frustrated
Despite billions in funding and promises of reform, many veterans — especially those with disabilities — are still hitting the same wall when it comes to the Department of Veterans Affairs:
Silence. Delays Disconnection.
From endless wait times to confusing referral systems and unreturned calls, the VA is facing growing backlash from the very people it’s meant to serve. And veterans are getting loud.
What Veterans Are Saying …
A new Military.com survey published in late June found a sobering trend: widespread dissatisfaction with how the VA communicates, handles appointments, and processes specialty care. Among the most common complaints:
- Delayed referrals to specialists — some taking months
- No callbacks or follow-ups after leaving messages
- Appointments rescheduled or canceled without notice
- Limited availability of mental health services and rehab support
- Frustration with third-party contractors for community care referrals
For disabled veterans, whose needs often include chronic pain, PTSD, mobility issues, or neurological conditions, these barriers are more than annoying — they’re potentially life-altering.
Why This Is Bigger Than Inconvenience
When a disabled vet can’t get timely care, the results can snowball quickly:
- Worsening of physical or mental health
- Increased reliance on emergency rooms
- Missed diagnoses or delayed treatment
- Erosion of trust in the system
- Higher risk of isolation, depression, or suicide
“It’s not just the wait — it’s the feeling that no one’s on the other end of the phone.”
~ Michael L., Army veteran with spinal cord injuries
What’s Going Wrong?
The issues aren’t entirely new — but they’ve become more urgent as the VA leans on third-party contractors to fulfill the demands of the Mission Act, which allows veterans to seek private care when VA services aren’t available nearby or soon enough.
While this was meant to increase flexibility, the result has often been:
- Lost paperwork between systems
- Unclear responsibility for follow-up
- Veterans stuck in limbo, waiting for confirmation or scheduling
In theory, the Mission Act is a win. In practice, it’s proving uneven — especially for disabled veterans juggling complex or urgent care needs.
What Veterans Can Do Right Now
While long-term reform is still needed, here are a few practical steps disabled veterans can take:
- Request a VA Patient Advocate: Every VA medical center has one — and their job is to help you navigate the mess. Ask for them by name.
- Use MyHealtheVet or the VA App: Secure messaging can sometimes get faster replies than phone calls.
- Keep documentation: Save appointment notices, referral letters, and missed call logs. These can help escalate issues if needed.
- Contact your Congressional office: Many reps have a veteran liaison who can help push for resolution — especially in cases of delayed or denied care.
- Speak out: Share your experience with local VSOs, online forums, or public hearings. Numbers move the needle.
A Note to the VA (If You’re Listening) …
Veterans — especially disabled veterans — aren’t asking for VIP treatment. They’re asking for respect, response, and reliability.
When a veteran makes the effort to seek care, they deserve to be met with action, not a black hole. When they call, someone should answer. When they need help, someone should help.
That’s not a luxury. That’s a promise made and long overdue to be kept.
Final Thoughts — Unseen And Unheard …
Veterans fought battles so the rest of us wouldn’t have to. But too many are now fighting just to be seen and heard by their own healthcare system.
If the VA is serious about reform, the first step isn’t another report — it’s a call back. A human voice. A real schedule. A system that works for veterans, not around them.
Because silence isn’t just frustrating — it’s dangerous.
This article hasn’t told me any more than I already knew! All that needs to be done now, is that someone needs to act on this! Someone with enough balls to back up what they’re saying!
malpractice is what they cost me
the Manchester , nh va cares more about protecting their jobs than helping vets.
Sounds like everywhere!
the PA at corpus Christi Texas va clinic diagnosed me with frozen shoulder and I kept telling them it’s nerve and spinal cord damage was told to get it out of my head well I asked for second opinion and 4 va Drs and a neurosurgeon stated it’s not from frozen shoulder it’s nerve and spinal cord damage that has been left untreated misdiagnosed and even neurosurgeon put it in writing I submitted it as new evedence to OGC where I’ve been denied for malpractice va tort claim and awaiting the new evedence outcome can’t find an attny to help me with this if anyone can help me please please help me a lot of permanent disabilitys that this has caused me please [email protected] I need help corpus Christi Texas
If Trump was anything special he’d slowly phase out VHA, issue to veterans insurance cards, use the freed up funds from firing people in the fake healthcare system to provide medical care for veterans instead. This is a decades long failure now a complete fraud and people need to wake up and take action in order to annihilate this horrible entity for good. As long as people keep going, they’re validating this horrible system.
agreed. va manchester nh va employees cares more their paychecks than they do about the vets they are charged to help.
Every V.A. clinic and hospital is like that. protect the paycheck. it’s nearly impossible to get incompetence fired. I don’t remember the last time I had a real Dr. as a primary. most are nurse practitioners. they are cheaper for the V.A.
agreed. va manchester nh va employees cares more their paychecks than they do about the vets they are charged to help. they only health as if it was the 1950’s.
Sounds like a true statement to me. Just to get anyone to act is just ridiculous! Every one wants action, but no one want to actually act!!
my VA still will not recognize my motor cycle accident back in 10/75 where I was unconscious for awhile and a cast on my left side !!!
Thank you for writing this. For myself and the reality of the VA that I have experienced, the VA is a Veterans
Enemy #1. The upper echelon lies. The claims review boards are trained to reject. The claim process is a continuous maze of Veterans Administration self-created, back-stepping, run-arounds, that is designed to exhaust and discourage veterans from bringing their claims to fruition.
The VA is taking steps backwards with getting the care that we need. Forever to get back on test results. Community care is a joke. I had a shoulder replacement this past may 30th. and they only gave me 15 physical therapy visits. Now I have to wait for the VA to review chart notes to get approved for more PT visits. The attitudes and care of VA workers have declined and my hopes are dim of getting the care I deserve with my 100% VA P@T. I use oxygen 24/7 and have other disabilities.
The community care is just extending the flaming hoops and neverending circles to outside the VA system. The issue is still gonna be denial of care if something is “too expensive.” Nevermind “service connected” or “priority group” or any of that other bullshit. It means nothing if something costs too much… even if it’s needed. Not wanted, but needed. Yes they deny care for medically necessary and needed procedures all the time, because they can. The other branches of government won’t hold them accountable and they know it…so that’s what they do.
community care is a JOKE if you can find one. they don’t want to use V.A. or treat veterans because it takes too long to get paid. In Oklahoma there are little V.A. pecker checker clinics all over and only TWO V.A. hospitals in the WHOLE STATE! I called for homeless veterans assistance. ” oh, you’re not in our area” or ” you need to get to an urban area closer so we can better serve you” ok, I don’t drive. how am I suppose to get there and then what? put me in a shelter overnight then on the streets? The V.A. has housing for homeless veterans and programs. just don’t want to do their JOB.
I saw my NP on March 26th at the VA for an enlarged left breast with pain. They drew eight vials of blood. Three weeks later, I was notified that I had fatty tissue, no follow up. I responded to the E/R with the same symptoms. E/R doctor referred an ultrasound and he was notified that he couldn’t refer had to be my NP. E/R notified him that it’s been two months since I haven’t heard anything. I received a letter from the VA that they would phone me on July 17th and discuss my breast. How can a phone call cure my breast? It’s going on four months, and it’s totally unacceptable.
community care in new Hampshire is far better quality of care than the Manchester va. the Manchester va care is a real JOKE.
community care in new Hampshire is far better quality of care than the Manchester va. the Manchester va care is a real JOKE. Thank goodness there is community 3here in Manchester. They probably saved my life.
The biggest thing is that people just dont give a shit anymore. I have been struggling to get 100% with back problems, spine problems, nerves, hip and leg problems, ptsd, surgeries for 15 years ….. but good ole joe shmoe that has heat exhaustion gets 100% permanent WTF!!! NO WONDER WHY COMBAT VETS WOULD RATHER DIE ON THE STREETS THEN COME TO THE VA! I do every little trick the VA wants me to do, putting more strain on my body and mind and i just want to give up. I feel like Its a shit show. Noone knows what is going on, walk into every VA place and noone knows anything. Seems like a good place to get hired without having to do anything and just give the good ole vet the run around, “go over here” , ” no, they dont know what they are talking about, go here”, ” lol, your in the wrong area”. Where do I go? what do I do?
some ARE dying on the streets. even with 100%. The V.A. figures you have enough $ to get a place to live. I will say under Bidens 1st year it was alot better. NOW? YES, I’m homeless and don’t drive in a rural ” red” state. The V.A. tells me ” get to a more urban area for better services”. ” we can’t help you where you’re at”. ok, HOW am I suppose to get there? where am I gonna stay? An overnight shelter? then back on the streets in an unknown city at 65? They have the means, they just don’t want to and are LAZY. as long as they get their paycheck. then I get ” we’re understaffed”. same thing probably as you. The run around. now they are cutting staffing. I will say, sometimes it DOES depend on which V.A. you go to and WHAT STATE it’s in.
I’m dealing with the same thing. I’ve been trying to get help for drug addiction because of my depression ptsd and anxiety I’m just tired and ready to give up Bonham va sucks when it comes to answering the phone or calling back instead of hours later where it seems as though I’ve been playing fucking phone tag
Try contacting Dallas VA for to get some help or get into thr HCHV program.
I’m in S.E. Oklahoma. choices are Muskogee, Oklahoma City or Bonham. no good choices. All I get around here is NOTHING. I’m ” too far for services”.
I have been experiencing the same roadblocks don’t know where to turn
I’m in S.E. Oklahoma. choices are Muskogee, Oklahoma City or Bonham. no good choices. All I get around here is NOTHING. I’m ” too far for services”.
losing faith in the VA…
should of been not losing faith in the VA..Ann arbor VA treats me great.
Charlotte VA North and South are awesome
va treatment is getting worse, the Drs ignore your pain, requests, sometimes they get disrespectful, not realizing that because of us veterans they have a job!
I’m a homeless disabled senior veteran. I am in a rural town. I contacted the V.A. Tulsa Homeless program and was told that I ” needed to get to the more urban areas to better serve you”. ok, I don’t drive & there is no transportation available. Also, they told me I don’t ” qualify for SSVF or HUDVASH due to my disability income. I’ve tried different ORG. for help, for shelter, for housing. there is NOTHING where I’m at. Also, the Honeless coordinator told me they are ” understaffed”. what am I suppose to do and where am I suppose to go?
don’t go to the Manchester. n..h. va for mental health. they put a tag on your record and create a target on your back. using your record so when they pull your record so employees single you out as a problem or threat to them.making it challenging to be treated like anyone else who checks in for appointment.
don’t go to the Manchester. n..h. va for mental health. they put a tag on your record and create a target on your back. using your record so when they pull your record so employees single you out as a problem or threat to them.making it challenging to be treated like anyone else who checks in for appointment. that’s the Manchester va providing great va care
I have applied for my disability for over 10 years. I have not received any comments or request. they have lost my records from my active duty sick call and they have put it under the rug. so therefore im here still suffering without resolution. They still putting me in the position to still suffer and calling it an arthritis problem when I have accumulated the back issues during my enrollment into active duty. I get soo frustrated because veterans should be one of our number one priority dealing with pain, it’s and other medical and physical conditions. it is frustrated enough to not allow others to be in the same shoe as I received.
I don’t use va hospital near me since a patient advocate assaulted me and my elderly veteran mother in front of 200 people. He also tried yo have me arrested. This was before my acdf surgery. Surgeon left me for dead at civilian hospital for 3 days following surgery because my throat swelled shut. The system is broken and if I could find an attorney i would sue them. They had to schedule my surgery multiple times because they kept forgetting to sterilize tools and plate and screws. I would rather die than go back to overton brooks va in shreveport louisana. I’ve seen them tackle and kill an old man because he was leaving after hours of waiting to get seen. The dental clinic also exposed hundreds to tb and hiv because they forgot to sterilize dental tools, then sent them a letter saying sorry but we aren’t treating you or paying you for making you sick. I tried to get help from whitehouse at tome but becsuse Democrat was in office i was ignored and patient advocate named tobias still works there.
as a veteran, the three biggest issues I have are.
1. when assigned a clinic, the staff says call YOUR clinic directly for information, appointments, etc. and when you call, it’s a central call center, not your clinic
2. living in a rural area, going to the main clinic is a chore, due to accidents, road construction etc, need more outpatient joint ambulatory centers.
(there are over 45% veterans/retirees that live in my town, we are 44 miles south of Jackson, 42 miles north of Hattiesburg)
3. need to have ID/DEERS at the Clinics so that veterans who are granted 100% can add dependents and get the appropriate ID cards without clogging up the base gates
my suggested solutions would be
1. have a dedicated person to answer calls and setup appts (it can be done, just like a civilian Dr office)
2. setup more stand alone joint ambulatory clinics in rural communities, it will save money in the long run of cutting down on travel pay, anything major can go to the main clinic
3. RAPID/DEERS/VHIC section would be nice because then one can get the appropriate ID needed to access the base without clogging up the main gates
When veterans are referred to community care, they should get priority scheduling. I am not sure what the right mechanism is to implement this but I am sure it can be done.
I hear, “Thank you for your service”, almost every day. I’m sure those same people would be willing to wait a little longer to see a doctor if it meant a veteran could get in sooner.
the system is broken and has been for long tim#e fix it.
left in limbo, dental appointment was cancelled without notice four months ago have called Va twice since then , no help, two months ago requested diabetic shoes and socks, no luck, I am a camp lejuene veteran during the 1970’s, requested endoscopy two years ago for hors ness in voice, no help . need help instead of deanials
left in limbo, dental appointment was cancelled without notice four months ago have called Va twice since then , no help, two months ago requested diabetic shoes and socks, no luck, I am a camp lejuene veteran during the 1970’s, requested endoscopy two years ago for hors ness in voice, no help .
Quick Warning: Be VERY careful talking to a Patient Advocate! I reported a “doctor” who saw me when my PC was sick. She said that she didn’t have time to examine someone like me. Her attitude and actions made it clear that her time was more important than my health. I ended up 2 days later at the civilian ER and was admitted with COVID and Hypoxia (82% blood oxygen). Almost a year later it was discovered that I had had a small stroke also, most likely around that time, but no one caught it.
My complaint was forwarded to the Clinic Medical Administrator (or whatever they call the boss). I got a call from the doctor I had seen, and she apologized by saying basically that she was sorry that I didn’t like what she said. Then I spoke to the Clinic Administrator himself, and he just made unkept promises and misleading (also known as lying) statements. I tried reaching the Hospital Administrator over our VISN, but he refused to speak with me.
That was over 2½ years ago, and I have been the target of retaliation ever since. My physical and mental health has gotten drastically worse. In that time, I have gone from being a physically active member of the community that served multiple veteran’s organizations, to being housebound, unable to walk unassisted, living in constant pain, just waiting to die, and right on the edge of complete emotional darkness. (Those of you who walked the jungle may know what that last part means.) I’ve been forced to buy “unauthorized” types of treatment for pain, stomach issues, sleep, and to keep the rage down.
The VA apparently would prefer to just let me fade away. I’ve heard from other local vets that the feeling is that the VA has determined that Vietnam and older veterans are too expensive and should be allowed to “pass peacefully”. BULL!
Currently I have a CT that showed Congestive Heart Failure 3 months ago (still being ignored by my VA doctors), I’m awaiting 2 more spinal surgeries (I’ve already had 4, but I can’t get the surgery done because of the heart issue), and MH only has PTSD counseling by impersonal group video (which I’m very uncomfortable with) or by waiting 6+ months to see a civilian MH social worker that wants to counsel me for “unidentified adjustment disorder” that she can’t even explain.
I’ve been through every level of filing complaints, from patient advocates to the White House Hotline, with no results. My complaint to the White House Hotline was assigned for resolution to the Administrator that the complaint was partially about, who proceeded to mark the complaint “resolved” without doing anything about it.
My solution? Give vets a medical card and let us find private doctors who still believe in the Hippocratic Oath, which back in my mom’s day (she was an RN) said that medical personnel should first do no harm. It’s a shame that the VA doesn’t require that of their doctors.
God Bless my brother and sisters at arms. Semper Fi!
don’t complain about the va to Washington as I did. they send it back to the va administrator and promptly throw the complaint away, it is never happened.
don’t complain about the va to Washington as I did. they send it back to the va administrator and promptly throw the complaint away, it is never happened. Great system to care about veterans.