North Carolina is home to Fort Bragg, Camp Lejeune, and nine of the 50 Veterans Affairs medical facilities where patients are most likely to encounter a long wait for care.
The Associated Press analyzed six months of appointment data at 940 VA hospitals and clinics nationwide to identify the ones struggling the most to deliver prompt care.
Eastern North Carolina was among the places where waits are worst.
At the VA clinic in Jacksonville, 16 percent of the appointments completed between Sept. 1 and Feb. 28 failed to meet the VA's timeliness standard, which calls for patients to be seen within 30 days.
That's nearly six times the national average of 2.8 percent.
VA officials in North Carolina say they are working to address the problem.
