STOCKTON, Calif. — A shortage of doctors at the Veterans Affairs clinic in Stockton is getting the attention of lawmakers in Washington after veterans say they have to wait months just to get an appointment.
"We now have the longest wait times of any VA clinic anywhere in California right here in Stockton and it's led to absolutely unacceptable healthcare for folks who have put their lives on the line for our country,” said Representative Josh Harder.
People like Vietnam veteran Tino Adame are being negatively impacted by the shortage.
"We have veterans that are dying in their cars, and we don't have the proper doctors there to take care of them,” he said. "And that's a shame because it's the veterans again that suffer."
The doctor shortage has people like Adame waiting weeks just to schedule an appointment.
His wife of 53 years Mary Adame is a former nurse and is outraged that the VA's own website reveals the average wait time for a new patient to see a primary care physician at the Stockton VA Clinic is 66 days. For existing patients, the Stockton Clinic's wait time is 21 days.
"They make an appointment, and we go ‘oh good he's going to be in there in a few days’ and then they cancel, and cancel, and cancel," said Mary Adame.
Harder says he’s seen veterans have to get amputated because they couldn’t see a doctor in time to get necessary medication refilled.
It’s caused him to bring the issue to the house floor, calling it a crisis.
"We need more doctors and we need them now. I have petitions right here in my hand from Veteran's across our community begging for a response, and an action plan form the secretary and the VA,” he said. "To prioritize emergency measures, take physicians from Sacramento, Palo Alto, whatever he can do to make sure that wait times come down in Stockton."
He says the Stockton VA clinic started 2023 with eight doctors and is now down to four to serve the estimated 27,000 veterans in the area.
Harder says there simply aren’t enough schools in the area training doctors to stay here.
"We have not done enough to really train the next generation of physicians and to bring them to underserved areas like the Central Valley,” he said. “We don't graduate enough physicians from here. We don't have a medical school, and when they graduate the VA doesn't pay as much as private healthcare operations."
The reality leaves the Adame’s and thousands of other veterans in San Joaquin County waiting for help.
"I just feel frustrated, and he does too. I can't help him. Just to a certain extent,” said Mary Adame.
