An Associated Press analysis shows that Texas veterans spend more time waiting for care than the national average.
An average of 3.4 percent of appointments at the state's 54 VA facilities were delayed longer than 30 days from September to February. Nationally, the average is 2.8 percent.
In the wake of last year's VA scandal and resulting federal changes, some facilities are still struggling to improve how often they meet the goal to have patients seen within 30 days.
VA facilities across Texas — including El Paso, Houston, San Antonio, Harlingen and Austin — all fell short.
Officials say the reasons behind the delays vary from staffing shortages to a state with a rapidly growing population of vets, but that facilities have shown some improvements.
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