Wait times continue to drop for veterans in Hawaii who need to see a doctor.

Four months ago new patients were waiting 145 days — the longest period in the nation — to see a primary care physician, but the delay has now been reduced to less than 40 days, said Wayne Pfeffer, director of VA Pacific Islands Health Care System.

"My goal was 30 days and we’re almost there," Pfeffer told about 50 veterans at the Oahu Veterans Center Friday.

The town hall meeting was held at the direction of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington. All regional VA offices were told to hold such a meeting by the end of the fiscal year in the wake of the nationwide VA scandal involving wait times.

Pfeffer said the number of Hawaii patients on the wait list, once numbering 1,900, has been all but eliminated.

"We’ve pretty well solved that," he said.

But Victor Ferrer, a marine veteran of the first Gulf War, said he continues to experience longer waits.

What happens, he said, is that when he calls his doctor and there is no appointment available, he’s told to call back in 30 days. When he calls back again, he’s told again there’s no appointment and to call back in two weeks.

"A wait of 30 days turns into 60 days and sometimes it can turn into 90 days when a doctor is sick or overbooked," Ferrer said. "It’s happened to me more than once."

Pfeffer told Ferrer what’s happening to him shouldn’t be happening anymore because of recent changes to improve patient capacity. He promised to look into it.

Pfeffer, who took over the director’s job in Hawaii about one year ago, said Tripler Army Medical Center has undergone a lot of internal reorganization and staff training to make the hospital more efficient and patient-centric.

"I’m hoping that people are starting to see a lot of improvement," he said. "We’re doing very well in a lot of areas, but we recognize there’s always room for improvement."

During the meeting, a number of veterans brought up long-standing grievances about inadequate benefits or complained about the difficulty in obtaining them, some raising their voices in anger and frustration. Others said they were satisfied with the services they have received.

Former Honolulu lawmaker and Councilman Rod Tam was also there with his father, Robert Tam, a veteran struggling to get his benefits for being exposed to the warfare chemical Agent Orange.

Tam said his father didn’t know about his right to Agent Orange treatment benefits and found out about them only when his physician mentioned it. The VA, he said, needs to do a better job telling veterans about their benefits and their rights.