The media's recent exposure of wait lists at some Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers has brought greater scrutiny to the healthcare access issues facing our nation's warriors.

Discussing the bipartisan support for S.B. 2450: Veterans' Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act of 2014 earlier this summer, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) told reporters, "One of the costs of war is taking care of the men and women who fought in those wars. We have a moral obligation to do everything we can to provide the benefits and medical care they are entitled."

Few are more dedicated to the quality and timeliness of healthcare to veterans than the physicians and other healthcare professionals providing that care.

There are many reasons for the VA's current situation: aging Vietnam-era veterans with increasing healthcare needs, decades' worth of seriously wounded and disabled veterans from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a shortage of physicians to see, assess and treat these veterans within the current system. In June, the American Medical Association (AMA) voted to encourage President Barack Obama to utilize private-sector physicians and healthcare entities to provide timely access to care.

"Our nation's physicians can and should be a part of the solution to this national crisis to ensure America's veterans get access to the care they need and deserve," said Robert M. Wah, M.D., incoming AMA president. The AMA is also seeking ways to address this shortage through the expansion of funding for additional residency slots for graduating medical students in under-represented specialties.

There is no quick fix to this situation, and the challenges should not be seen as an indictment of the care and concern of physicians and other clinical professionals within the VA system. As the problems are being reviewed and long-term solutions are identified, there is still an overwhelming need to provide an immediate solution to the current wait times and access issues within the VA system in the short term.

This is where locum tenens physicians come into play. Locum tenens physicians can provide cost-effective, short-term quality healthcare for our veterans. These providers can help individual VA medical centers and clinics buy some time to find long-term solutions regarding access expansion.

Additionally, the use of locum tenens physicians does not require the same type of federal approval that access to private care may take, leaving the local VA systems independent of political impediments and able to provide care to veterans in a timely manner.

VA medical centers are not alone in this struggle. Physician recruitment grows more difficult, and the nation is expected to experience a shortage of more than 90,000 physicians by 2020. In addition, according to the New England Journal of Medicine, only 4 percent of physicians are active in seeking an employment change. That's why more healthcare organizations are turning to locum tenens providers to help augment their permanent staff.

There are many challenges facing the entire U.S. healthcare system, but the moral obligation we all owe to those who protect our freedom and those who care for them should be something that we act on now with speed, quality and compassion.