BUTLER TWP — Wait times at VA Butler Healthcare remained below the national average during the past several months, according to U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs statistics.

Fewer than two-tenths of a percent of patients at the Butler facility had to wait more than 30 days for an appointment between September and December in 2014.

That rate jumped to 2.31 percent in January before falling back to 1.19 percent in February, the most recent month with data available.

Amanda Kurtz, a spokeswoman for VA Butler Healthcare, said the increase in delays at the beginning of this year was due to clinic specialists leaving.

“During the period in January 2015, the facility experienced an unexpected turnover in some of our specialty clinics that resulted in a temporary reduction in availability of those clinic’s services,” she said in an e-mail.

While wait times in Butler peaked in January, they remained below the national average of 3.38 percent during that month.

The issue with wait times at VA facilities arose last year with reports of patients dying while awaiting appointments across the country, specifically at the VA center in Phoenix.

In August, Congress gave the VA an additional $16.3 billion to attack the problem by hiring more doctors, opening new clinics, and expanding a program that is supposed to make it easier for vets to get care outside the VA system if they can’t get a timely appointment.

An audit conducted by VA last year showed that Butler’s facility is operating relatively well, with close to 100 percent of patients being seen within 30 days.

The nationwide audit examined 731 facilities and all VA medical centers.

Kurtz said while wait times in Butler have not been a concern, the facility still is working to improve its performance.

“Although wait times at VA Butler Healthcare have traditionally been low, a new centralized check-in scheduling process was implemented in January 2014,” Kurtz said.

“In addition, we have added additional specialists, such as podiatrist, ophthalmologist, and women’s health provider, and weekend and evening clinics. These changes have improved access to services available to veterans and have helped maintain a good wait time status.”

Kurtz said VA Butler Healthcare ensures veterans have access to services by closely monitoring clinic and wait time data and by making adjustments such as adding additional clinics and resources as needed.

The average wait times at VA Butler Healthcare are less than a day for primary care, two days for specialty clinics, and less than one day for mental health, Kurtz said.

Those statistics include VA Butler’s outpatient clinics in Cranberry Township and Armstrong, Clarion, Lawrence and Mercer counties.

Between 1.5 percent and 2.88 percent of patients at the VA centers in Pittsburgh had to wait more than a month for an appointment from September through February. Nationally, some centers had more than 24 percent of their patients waiting more than a month for an appointment, according to VA reports.