Veteran Waits Inside VA Clinic Consultation Room 3 Hours, Gets Locked Inside ‘Forgotten’ By Staff

A Marine veteran from Deltona, Florida says was locked inside the community Veteran’s Affairs clinic in Orange City on Monday after waiting over three hours in a consultation room. The Marine veteran, Jeffrey Duck, told WKMG News that it appeared staff simply forgot about him.

Duck told the news outlet that he had entered the walk-in clinic around 1 pm. Eventually he was taken back to a consultation room where he waited for three hours before realizing he was the only one left in the building. Duck said:

“I was apparently left there and forgotten.”

Once Duck realized he had been left, he said he didn’t want anyone to think he had sneaked into the clinic to steal, so he took a cell phone video of the empty clinic and waiting room. When Duck walked into the clinic lobby he said the motion set off the security alarm system, so he called 9-1-1 to report he had set off the alarm after being stuck inside the building.

You can see the cell phone footage of the emptied Veteran’s Affairs clinic below:

The 9-1-1 call went as follows:

[Duck] “I apparently got left in a VA facility — a medical facility — and the alarm has been going off.”

[Operator] “So, you’re inside and there’s no employees?”

[Duck] “None that I can see.”

Duck told the Associated Press that he was “disappointed” in the Veteran’s Affairs office for allowing something like this to happen, but notes:

“There’s a lot of people with bigger problems than me.”

The Veteran’s Affairs Office has apologized to Duck, and said they are reevaluating closing procedures to ensure this doesn’t happen again. Officials from the VA office released the following statement:

“We want to apologize to Mr. Duck for his experience yesterday at the Orange City VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic. We are looking at our closing procedures and will make changes to ensure that this does not happen again.”

This isn’t the first time the Veteran’s Affairs Office has been in the media spotlight over treatment of their patients. The Inquisitr previously reported on the case where a veteran collapsed at a VA hospital and died waiting for medical squad to take him 500 yards.

Duck says he hopes his story will bring attention to some of the issues the Veteran’s Affairs office is still facing. He says there are still some real problems in their medical facilities that need to be addressed. Does it surprise you that the VA clinic left a Marine veteran in a consultation room for three hours before locking him in?