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Saturday, November 23, 2024

6 newly enrolled VA Salt Lake City HCS patients seek medical appointments in October 2020

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The VA Salt Lake City Health Care System reported that six patients newly enrolled in its benefits program requested an appointments but had not received one during the period ending November 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

During that same time frame, the system scheduled 43,590 pending appointments across its 12 healthcare facilities.

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in January 2019 reported that wait times for new appointments at VA health care facilities were similar or better to wait times at private-sector providers between 2014 and 2017.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO), however, released a report in July 2019 that cautioned that the VA’s data-tracking system only captures part of the appointment process and fails to account for the time that it takes the VA to enroll veterans in its health benefits program.

At a hearing before the House Veterans Affairs Committee after the report was released, Debra Draper, health care director at the GAO, said new patients may actually wait up to 70 days for an appointment when they first enroll for benefits.

The VA explains on its website that when veterans apply for benefits, they are assigned to 1 of 8 priority groups, with those who need immediate care due to service-related disabilities placed in higher priority groups. Veterans who don’t have service-connected disabilities and who earn a higher income are placed in the lower priority groups.

VA Salt Lake City Health Care System Pending Appointments Scheduled in November
LocationTotal Appointments ScheduledAppointments Scheduled 30 Days or LessAppointments Scheduled More than 30 Days
Salt Lake City, UT (George E. Wahlen)32,38929,6252,764
Pocatello, ID1,4701,286184
Ogden, UT2,9552,852103
Roosevelt, UT74071228
Orem, UT1,1931,11677
St. George, UT1,2881,154134
South Jordan, UT1,4081,36345
Elko, NV55514
Idaho Falls, ID1,7041,62678
Price, UT652936
Weber County, UT32328835
Source: U.S. Veteran’s Administration

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