Nearly 60,000 veterans are waiting to get appointments at the Department of Veterans Affairs and 70% of facilities have used an alternative to official appointment schedules to make wait times appear shorter, according to an internal VA audit released Monday.

During a nearly monthlong audit of 731 VA facilities and nearly 4,000 employees, the VA found widespread problems with appointment scheduling and pressure on employees to change data. More than 10% of scheduling staff were given instruction on how to alter patient appointment...