An audit by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on its health care centers around the nation shows that Butler’s facility is operating relatively well.

The VA found that out of the more than 24,500 appointments scheduled at VA Butler Healthcare, all but 45 were scheduled within 30 days of their reference dates.

The audit was done in response to reports of patients dying while awaiting appointments, specifically at the VA center in Phoenix.

The nationwide audit examined 731 facilities, including 140 parent facilities and all VA medical centers.

The audit found numerous cases of long wait times across the nation for patients seeking first appointments.

The VA announced it is seeking additional information from 112 sites following the audit, including Pennsylvania centers in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Altoona, Erie and Lebanon.

Amanda Kurtz, a spokesman with the VA in Butler, said in an e-mail the Butler facility will not be further investigated.

“VA Butler Healthcare, inclusive of our five Community Based Outpatient Clinics, was not flagged for further review and investigation as part of the audits,” she said.

VA Butler has clinics in Cranberry Township as well as Armstrong, Clarion, Lawrence and Mercer counties.

In an e-mail, Kurtz said VA Butler has the resources to take on new patients at any time.

“VA Butler has the resources and capacity to immediately enroll and to provide care for any eligible veteran needing VA care,” she said.

While the VA Butler Healthcare center had relatively good results in the audit, with nearly 100 percent of its patients being seen within the first 30 days of requesting an appointment, the audit did show the facility had longer wait times for new patients.

VA Butler had among the quickest wait times for enrolled veterans, taking just over a third of a day.

But its current wait time for new patients seeking primary or specialty care averages around 35 days.

Wait times for new patients at the VA center in Pittsburgh are about 60 days.

Kurtz said the 35 day average reflects a snapshot of future appointments in the system on the day the audit was conducted.

She said the actual wait times for scheduled appointments in the past have been between 9 and 11 days on average.

She added the wait time is less for enrolled patients because they are scheduled for follow-up appointments well in advance.

“The difference between new and established patient wait time is that established patients are typically scheduled for future follow-up appointments at an interval of 3 to 6 months,” Kurtz said. “VA Butler’s clinic capacity allows us to efficiently schedule future patient appointments for established patients.”

Butler had 17 new patients who were not seen for an appointment within 90 days of their reference date.

Kurtz said each of those patients was added to an electronic waiting list and were scheduled an appointment within 30 days of being added to the list.

A total of five patients had to wait more than 120 days for an appointment, but Kurtz said each was offered a quicker schedule.

“The five patients referenced were veterans awaiting a specialty care appointment at a Community Based Outpatient Clinic,” Kurtz said. “They were offered earlier appointments at the main Butler facility and desired to wait for their scheduled appointment.”