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Nearly 900,000 military veterans have officially pending applications for health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs, the department's inspector general said Wednesday, but "serious" problems with enrollment data make it impossible to determine how many veterans were actively seeking VA health care. About one-third of the 867,000 veterans with pending applications are likely deceased, the report says, adding that "data limitations" prevent investigators from determining how many now-deceased veterans applied for health care benefits or when. The applications go back nearly two decades, and officials said some applicants may have died years ago. (Daly, 9/2)

Hundreds of thousands of veterans listed in the Department of Veterans Affairs enrollment system died before their applications for care were processed, according to a report issued Wednesday. The VA's inspector general found that out of about 800,000 records stalled in the agency's system for managing health care enrollment, there were more than 307,000 records that belonged to veterans who had died months or years in the past. (Devine, 9/2)

Dozens of patients were moved, new-patient admissions were canceled and some medical procedures were postponed after a monsoon storm damaged the beleaguered Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center, according to The Arizona Republic. Don Taylor, acting associate director of the hospital, told The Republic torrential rains Monday night, along with "almost hurricane-force winds," hammered the main building's west and south sides. Damage was also reported at the Phoenix Zoo, where several trees blew down. (9/3)