. >> rick's commitment to our veterans is unwhiched. his service to our country is exemplary. he has worked hard to identify the problems with access to care. but as he told me this morning the v.a. needs new leadership to address them. that was rick's judgment on behalf of his fellow veterans, and i agree. we don't have time for distractions. we need to fix the problems. >> reporter: 150 clinics and centers serve veterans. and there have long been complaints of backlog of veterans seeking care. the problem became acute of late when reports surfaced of mondays long wait of seeing a doctor and allegations of cooked books to cover up the problem. and as calls for the resignation of shinseki grew , it confirmed 1700 vets were not on an official waitlist to see doctors. under the phoenix v.a. veterans waited almost four months to get an appointment. they found false data was being used to suggest a better level of service. in phoenix and many other va facilities. >> the number one priority is making sure that problems get fixed so that if there is a veteran out there who needs hel

. >> rick's commitment to our >> rick's commitment to our veterans is veterans is unwhiched. unwhiched. his service to our country is his service to our country is exemplary. exemplary. he has worked hard to identify he has worked hard to identify the problems with access to the problems with access to care. care. but as he told me this morning but as he told me this morning the v.a. needs new leadership to the v.a. needs new leadership to address them. address them. that was rick's judgment on that was rick's judgment on behalf of his fellow veterans, behalf of his fellow veterans, and and i agree. i agree. we don't have time for we don't have time for distractions. distractions. we need to fix the problems. we need to fix the problems. >> reporter: 150 clinics and >> reporter: 150 clinics and centers serve veterans. centers serve veterans. and there have long been and there have long been complaints of backlog of complaints of backlog of veterans seeking care. veterans seeking care. the problem became acute of late the problem became acute of late when reports surfaced when