VA announced this past week two significant trends in the Department’s services to our nation’s veterans, first in the area of trust and second with respect to changes in wait times for new patients.

Trust among veterans has reached an all-time high of 80.4 percent, up from 55 percent when the survey began in 2016. The figures are based on a survey of 38,293 veterans who used a wide range of VA services between January 1 and March 31, including health care, disability compensation benefits, memorial affairs, the GI Bill, and home loans.

In results of separate research, for new patients in April 2024 there was an 11 percent decrease in average wait times for VA primary care and a 7 percent decrease in average mental health wait times compared to the same time last year.

“There’s nothing more important than earning the trust of the veterans we serve,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough, referring to the surveys revealing the increase in veteran trust.

Secretary McDonough also commented on the reductions in wait times at a time when VA appears to be delivering more care to veterans than ever before.

“Whenever a veteran chooses VA for their care, we want them to know that we are going to take care of them—and we’re going to get them in for an appointment as quickly as possible,” he said. “That’s the stand to which we hold ourselves, and we’ll never settle for anything less.”

For additional details about the increase in veteran trust, provided in a May 28 VA news release,  click here. To access a May 24 release explaining the decrease in wait times for veterans newly enrolled in VA health care, click here.