appointments. the worst part, dr. katherine mitchell says, is that it still was going on as recently as a few weeks ago. reporter: you re telling me that our troops coming back from war, now separated from active service who should have priority for scheduling do not. reporter: who are coming to the phoenix va for follow-up care for war injuries correct. reporter: are being put on a waiting list and made to wait six to ten months? yes, or longer. six to ten months or longer. wounded in theater and waiting. six facilities nationwide are now being audited as part of this investigation. in portland, oregon, va officials say tens of thousands of appointment requests took more than 14 days to fill, and the va in seattle is now facing a lawsuit from a family that says delays in scheduling surgery contributed to the cancer death of a vietnam-era veteran. the president called veterans affairs secretary eric shinseki to the white house. he demanded answers, saying he s
found alive this morning. she s alive, finally back with her family. good morning, i m christine romans. i m john berman. it s thursday, may 22nd, 4:00 a.m. in the east. and we begin with the shocking, new allegations this morning that the va may be mistreating some of the veterans most in need of medical care. in a story first seen right here on cnn, a doctor at the phoenix va says injured veterans of wars in iraq and afghanistan are not being given priority appointments, despite a national mandate that puts them at the very front of the line, or is supposed to at least. dr. katherine mitchell told drew griffin this is happening as recently as a few weeks ago. reporter: you re telling me that our troops coming back from war, now separated from active service who should have priority for scheduling do not. reporter: who are coming to the phoenix va for follow-up care for war injuries correct.
reporter: you re telling me that our troops coming back from war, now separated from active service who should have priority for scheduling do not. reporter: who are coming to the phoenix va for follow-up care for war injuries correct. reporter: are being put on a waiting list and made to wait six to ten months? yes, or longer. the phoenix va is 1 of 26 facilities now under investigation, accused of falsifying appointment records with sometimes deadly consequences. in seattle, a family is suing the va, saying scheduling delays were responsible for a veteran s death because his cancer was able to spread. and in portland, oregon, va officials say schedulers made veterans wait more than 14 days for an appointment 30,000 times. the president says he is outraged at the allegations. he is promising punishment if those allegations are proven true. we are going to fix whatever
now 7:00 in the east. cnn has uncovered explosive new allegations against the va health system in phoenix. i hope you re paying attention to this story because we now have wounded veterans, american heroes who saw combat in iraq and afghanistan forced to wait months for medical care even though they were supposed to receive priority treatment. a doctor at the phoenix va makes these shocking revelations and they make them to cnn s drew griffin. he s been cover this story from the start. take a listen. you are telling me that our troops coming back from war, now separated from active service who should have priority for scheduling do not. who are coming to the phoenix va for follow-up care for war injuries correct. are being put on a waiting list and made to wait six to ten months? yes, or longer. president obama is now promising someone will be held accountable. it doesn t look like it s going
this is the center of a growing scandal right now, and really the center of disturbing, new allegations of delays involving care for wounded veterans. a doctor at the phoenix va tells cnn s drew griffin, who has broken so much of this information about this scandal, this doctor told drew that this facility is violating a national mandate in making injured veterans of the wars in iraq and afghanistan wait for months to get appointments. the worst part, dr. katherine mitchell says it was still going on as recently as a few weeks ago. reporter: you are telling me that our troops coming back from war, now separated from active service who should have priority for scheduling do not. reporter: who are coming to the phoenix va for follow-up care for war injuries correct. reporter: are being put on a waiting list and made to wait six to ten months? yes, or longer. 26 facilities nationwide are