By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA – During a brief discussion recently at a Massena Memorial Hospital Board of Managers meeting, hospital officials said outpatient registrations at the Veterans’ Administration clinic are steeply below what was budgeted.

They said it is due to a lengthy process medical practitioners must go through to get special VA licensing.

Veterans “are not receiving the services they should,” board chairman Andrew Spanburgh stated at the meeting.

MMH CEO Charles Fahd says he doesn’t think the veterans are going elsewhere for their medical care.

According to a financial and statistical summary for June at MMH, there were 732 outpatient registrations at the VA clinic; they budgeted for 966, representing a 24.22 percent difference. This compares to 978 registrations in June 2012.

There have been 4,473 VA outpatient registrations between Jan. 1 and June 30, the summary says. The hospital budgeted for 5,575 which is a 19.77 percent gap. This compares with 5,441 for the same time period last year.

Hospital officials did not return requests for comment.