Congressman Josh Harder is pressuring Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough to take steps to reduce the nearly three-month wait time to see a doctor at the Stockton VA Clinic.

The clinic — whish is supposed to have eight doctors — only has four.

That has led to numerous cancelled appointments and wait times of almost 90 days for veterans to get an appointment.

In one instance, the delay of seeing a physician due to repeated appointment cancellations cost one veteran with diabetes his leg. It was amputated because he couldn’t see a doctor to get his medication.

“This situation is hitting a breaking point. For months, San Joaquin County veterans have been struggling to see a doctor,” Harder, D-Tracy,  said. “Some have waited more than three months for an appointment at the Stockton VA Clinic only to have it canceled at the last minute.”

“It’s dangerous for their health, and shameful it’s gotten this bad. I know the Stockton VA clinicians and staff are doing everything they can with the resources they have been given, but it’s past time for the VA Secretary to step in.”

For months, Harder has been demanding a plan from the Department of Veterans Affairs to identify a solution to the lack of doctors at the Stockton VA Clinic. He passed an amendment earlier this year requiring the VA to create a plan to address doctor shortages at VA clinics across the country, but no real progress has been made so far.

Harder this week sent a letter to the Veterans Affairs Secretary along with copies of a petition signed by nearly 50 local veterans collected during his veterans’ health care town hall earlier this month at the Manteca VFW. 
Harder, in his letter, strongly urged the Secretary “to prioritize filling the four vacant (primary care physician) positions immediately.”
In May, Harder was alerted to a 50 percent reduction in the number of primary care physicians seeing and treating patients at the Stockton VA Clinic

“ For the last four months,” Harder noted in his letter, “my office has worked with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to find a solution to fill those staff openings, but no sizable progress has been made.”