The number of veterans waiting more than a month for care at Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals increased by thousands in two weeks, climbing to well over half a million at the start of October.

Over 522,000 veterans are waiting for appointments scheduled more than 30 days after their "preferred date" for care, according to the most recent patient access data released biweekly by the agency. The data, which reflects appointments scheduled as of October 1, indicates that the number of veterans waiting over 30 days at the VA has climbed by more than 14,000 in two weeks.

This also represents a 10-week high for the number of veterans waiting over a month for care.

The data sheds light on the agency’s efforts to take care of veterans as scrutiny intensifies over systemic cultural and leadership problems at its network of federally run hospitals.

While the VA has kept the percentage of appointments scheduled over 30 days roughly steady—it has hovered between 7 and 7.5 percent for several months and even decreased in the most recent reporting period—the number of veterans seeking appointments at VA hospitals has increased, meaning more veterans are waiting longer for care.

More than 7.3 million veterans had pending appointments at the VA as of October 1, roughly 400,000 more than just two weeks ago.

The VA has been criticized over patient wait times and mismanagement since 2014, when it was discovered that schedulers at some agency hospitals were keeping secret lists to hide how long veterans were waiting for care. The practice resulting in veterans dying while waiting for appointments.

An investigation by the VA inspector general released this month confirmed that delays in care persist at the Phoenix VA Health Care System, the center of the wait list scandal, and that at least one veteran died while waiting for care. Hospital staffers also were found to be inappropriately canceling appointments and other consultations, resulting in delays.

The Washington Free Beacon reported last month that veterans with colorectal cancer died after delays in care at the New Mexico VA. The inspector general said these deaths resulted from a lack of oversight of the hospital system’s cancer screening program.

According to the new data, just over 8,000 veterans in Phoenix are scheduled to wait more than 30 days for appointments. The situation at other hospitals is worse. More than 13,000 veterans in the greater Los Angeles area and more than 13,700 veterans in Denver are expected to wait that long for care.

The VA measures wait times as the amount of time that lapses between a veteran’s "preferred date"—the date he wishes to be seen or the date his doctor determines he needs to be seen—and the actual date of his appointment. The agency does not begin counting when the veteran requests the appointment, meaning that that the VA patient access data likely underestimates actual wait times.

A recent audit by the Government Accountability Office found that schedulers at multiple VA hospitals made errors when recording veterans’ "preferred dates," which resulted in wait times that appeared shorter than they actually were. At one hospital, wait times were understated by an average of 20 days.

Some veterans wait much longer than a month for VA appointments. According to the new data, more than 304,000 veterans will wait between one and two months for appointments, 126,000 will wait between two and three months, and over 50,000 will wait between three and four months. Nearly 42,000 veterans are expected to go more than four months without being seen by a VA professional.

The VA did not return a request for comment.

VA Secretary Robert McDonald has minimized the importance of wait times in measuring the agency’s success, comparing appointment waits to lines at Disney theme parks in May. McDonald later expressed regret over the analogy, which sparked outrage.

Congressional lawmakers considered legislation to further reform the VA after reports exposed continued shortfalls at the agency’s hospitals despite a reform bill enacted in response to the 2014 wait list controversy. Legislative efforts have centered around expanding VA’s firing powers and allowing veterans more flexibility in choosing where they receive care, among other changes.

An independent commission convened by Congress to review the VA hospital network recommended this year that it undergo a "far-reaching" transformation that would involve changes in governance structure and more private options for veterans.