News that veterans in Colorado are dealing with long waits to get into Veterans Affairs hospitals and facilities is truly depressing, and should add weight to arguments for continued support of the Choice program that covers private visits when VA doctors are too busy.

Given that our nation seems to be on a path of perpetual war, those who volunteer to put life and limb on the line to defend us ought to trust that the VA stands ready to help when injuries and illness strike.

Sadly, the VA has some more work to do to live up to that responsibility. As The Denver Post’s David Migoya reported, wait times for medical appointments at veterans facilities in the Denver metro area and across the Eastern Plains are little better than they were three years ago, when a national scandal forced officials to promise they would do better.

Instead, the wait for a primary care appointment in Denver’s VA medical center – more than 18 days – is three times longer than the troubled facility in Phoenix, the poster child for the wait-time scandal. That scandal highlighted problems with secret wait lists and long waits that led to deaths and serious health complications in facilities all over the country.

Read more at The Denver Post.