Veterans Health Administration

A Veteran at the Shreveport, Louisiana, VA Medical Center receiving urgent care during VA’s first Access Stand Down in November, 2015.

VA to Hold Second National Access Stand Down

Reaching Out Again to Veterans Waiting for Urgent Care

On Saturday, Feb. 27, VA will hold a second National Access Stand Down event.

A team of clinical leaders, administrators and volunteers will be on site at every VA medical center from 9 a.m. to noon to reach out to all Veterans waiting for urgent care.

Veterans should contact their Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) with questions about the urgency of their condition.

VA’s first-ever National Access Stand Down event held on Nov. 14 was a great success, and the goal now is to keep the momentum going. It was an important day for VA to show our Veterans and the nation how serious VA is about ending the access crisis. But our journey of improvement is just beginning.

It takes much more than a one-day event to fix access issues and achieve the goal of providing Veterans same day access for primary care and urgent specialty care.

On Feb. 27, at VA medical centers across the country, hundreds of the men and women of VA will give up part of their weekend to demonstrate our commitment to providing timely access to health care for our Veterans.

There are still Veterans waiting longer than they should for care.

Drive-by flu shots at the Shreveport VA Medical Center during VA’s First Access Stand Down.

VA’s ability to meet the urgent health needs of Veterans remains a priority for VA and the nation. As long as there is even a single Veteran with an urgent care need VA is not meeting in a timely fashion, we will not be satisfied.

Although VA has greatly increased access since last June, the demand has also significantly increased, and there are still Veterans waiting longer than they should for care. That’s why VA is holding another National Access Stand Down this Saturday.

Many federal, community, and academic partners have been recruited to pitch in and help resolve any outstanding urgent appointments at the one-day Access Stand Down. This event will demonstrate to you, our Veterans, and the nation how serious we are about ending the access crisis.

And our efforts to fix the access issues will continue after Feb. 27. We will not rest until we fix our systemic problems in addressing the health needs of those who need our help the most.

VA is committed to providing timely access to Veterans as determined by their clinical needs. We strive for all Veterans to have safe, high-quality, personalized, and timely care wherever they receive their health care services.