The VA is a political organization
It exists to drive inane policies that increase its budget without regard to outcomes
I know a vet that called the Suicide Hotline a couple of years ago, who referred him to the VA. It took over 4 months for him to get an appointment, and he got a black mark in his record for "saying something" about the delay and was told the needed to attend resilience training to learn to accept his limitations, so he wouldn't feel so bad about being a disabled POS.
The VA is hopeless.