An Acton, Massachusetts, widow has accepted an apology from the VA hospital in Bedford after she says her late husband Doug, a Vietnam veteran, was offered an appointment nearly two years after he died.
Suzanne Chase says she was appalled to open her mailbox and find the letter.
"When I opened it and realized that we were finally going to get an appointment with a primary care, I was absolutely stunned," said chase.
Then disappointment set in.
The letter read, "We are committed to providing primary care in a timely manner."
"I’m thinking, I'm getting this letter 22 months after he passed away, so that didn't seem timely to me," Chase said.
She says Doug was diagnosed with a brain tumor back in 2011, and then stage four cancer. Hhe died in 2012.
At first he went to a Boston hospital, but when they tried to transfer his care to the VA hospital, she says they waited for several months. Despite a follow-up, she says she never heard back.
Even more upsetting, Chase says, is that the VA should have known Doug was dead because she applied for a funeral benefit after he passed and was denied.
Chase says she wrote the VA back directly and that the acting director called her and apologized. The apology has been accepted, but Chase says she's now looking for change.
The Veteran’s Affairs department has been under fire nationally for veteran care and reports of treatment delay.
"I’m willing to say the system is broken, let's fix it," she said.
NECN tried repeatedly to get comment from the Veteran's Affairs department Tuesday and the VA hospital in Bedford, but as of air-time, did not heard back.
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