Long Drives and Longer Waits: The Fight for VA Care Along Colorado's Front Range

Veterans in Douglas, El Paso and Teller counties are served by the VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System, which includes multiple clinics in Colorado Springs, a clinic in Castle Rock and the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center in Aurora.

The challenge is particularly significant in communities with large veteran populations. Teller County, home to fewer than 25,000 residents, has an estimated 3,331 veterans, according to U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey data. About 16% of the population measured for veteran status has served in the military — more than twice the statewide rate.

Douglas County has an estimated 20,642 veterans.

For veterans in mountain communities such as Woodland Park, Divide and Florissant, specialized VA care can require traveling to Colorado Springs or, depending on the service needed, farther north to the regional medical center in Aurora.

When the VA Can't Provide Care Quickly Enough

The Veterans Community Care Program is intended to give eligible veterans another option when VA care is unavailable or can’t be provided within established access standards.

For primary care, mental health and extended outpatient care, veterans may qualify for Community Care if the average drive to a VA facility exceeds 30 minutes or an appointment is not available within 20 days. For specialty care, the standards are a 60-minute average drive, or a 28-day wait.

But qualifying for Community Care does not necessarily mean a veteran immediately receives care from a private provider.

A Government Accountability Office review of the Veterans Community Care Program found persistent concerns involving appointment scheduling, wait times and oversight of the private-provider networks used by the VA.

GAO identified 27 recommendations related to Community Care scheduling, wait times and contractor oversight. As of February 2025, the VA had implemented nine.

The watchdog agency also found that although the VA had established time frames for processing referrals and scheduling Community Care appointments, it had not established a standard for how long it should take for the actual appointment to occur.

The distinction is significant: A veteran may qualify for outside care because a VA appointment is unavailable within the government's access standard but can then encounter another administrative process before receiving that care.

One Veteran's Yearlong Wait

For Colorado veteran Michael Nelson, the delays became personal when he attempted to reestablish VA care in the state in March 2026.

Nelson, a former U.S. Army staff sergeant and the reporter's husband, said he was initially told he could not receive an intake appointment until March 2027 — one year after seeking care — despite having previously received VA care for five years following his discharge.

After another two months, Nelson said he was referred to a Community Care provider. Once the referral was completed, he was seen by the outside provider within three weeks.

The faster appointment, however, did not end the administrative delays.

Nelson said his provider submitted referrals for additional care, but he subsequently received letters stating that the VA had been unable to reach either him or his provider for additional paperwork needed to process them.

Some of those referrals have since moved forward, but as of August, Nelson said he was still waiting for approval of a medication prescribed by his Community Care provider.

“Three more months of a triangle between my provider, the VA and myself,” Nelson said. “Luckily, it's not a lifesaving drug, but one I need for my overall health.”

For Nelson, the experience reflects a larger frustration over what veterans face after leaving military service.

“They broke us through multiple deployments, then drag their feet on everything to get to the care we deserve,” he said.

Nelson's experience is one veteran's account and does not establish systemwide wait times. But the difficulties he described — referrals, scheduling and coordination between VA and outside providers — mirror areas federal auditors have identified as challenges within Community Care.

VA Expands Care in Colorado Springs

VA Eastern Colorado has taken steps to increase access and reduce travel for veterans in southern Colorado.

In April 2025, the agency opened Veterans Express Care at the PFC Floyd K. Lindstrom VA Clinic in Colorado Springs, providing same-day walk-in treatment for minor health conditions. The service has since expanded to weekdays, although the VA currently cautions that wait times at the walk-in clinic may be prolonged and that patients may sometimes be seen according to medical severity.

VA Eastern Colorado has also expanded specialty services in the Colorado Springs area.

A partnership between the VA and military medical facilities at Fort Carson and the U.S. Air Force Academy allows some veterans to receive surgical care locally. In September 2025, the Lindstrom clinic also opened an infusion clinic designed in part to reduce the need for veterans receiving certain treatments to travel to Aurora.

The expansion has already reduced travel for some veterans. Susan Gartung, a U.S. Army veteran and Colorado Springs resident, previously traveled to Aurora for infusion treatments, a trip that could be complicated by winter weather and traffic along Interstate 25. With treatment now available at Lindstrom, Gartung said she can reach her appointment in about 10 minutes.

“It is so much easier, less time consuming, less stressful,” Gartung said.

A System Still Under Scrutiny

Community Care has grown into a significant part of veterans' health care nationally. In fiscal year 2023, about 2.8 million veterans received care through community providers, according to GAO.

Federal auditors continue to scrutinize how quickly those veterans receive appointments and how effectively care is coordinated between VA facilities and private providers.

The VA has also made changes intended to streamline the process. In 2025, the department eliminated an additional physician-review requirement for certain Community Care decisions when a veteran and treating clinician agree that outside care is in the veteran's best medical interest.

Still, the central challenge remains particularly relevant along the Front Range, where veterans may live near major military installations but miles from the VA facility providing the specialty care they need.

VA Eastern Colorado did not respond to a request for comment before publication.

For veterans navigating the system, the question is not simply whether health care exists. It is how far they must travel, how long they must wait and how many administrative steps stand between asking for care and receiving it.