Quantcast

Central Montana Times

Monday, December 23, 2024

VA Montana HCS facility in Great Falls scheduled 3,442 medical appointments in June 2020

Istock 000003255680 medium

The VA Montana Health Care System, subsidiary 436GB in Great Falls, Montana, scheduled 3,442 pending appointments during the period ending July 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 3,261 had a wait time of 30 days or less (94.7%) and 181 appointments (5.3%) were scheduled more than 30 days out.

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 to or better than 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.

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

VA Montana Health Care System Appointments Scheduled in June
Facility CodeLocationTotal Appointments ScheduledAppointments Scheduled 30 Days or LessAppointments Scheduled More than 30 Days
436Fort Harrison14,27211,0243,248
436GCMissoula6,1906,020170
436GHBillings5,1483,9471,201
436GFKalispell4,6384,430208
436GNBillings4,1483,760388
436GBGreat Falls3,4423,261181
436GAAnaconda1,5441,47965
436GDBozeman1,3671,215152
436QAHamilton1,1871,15631
436QCHelena966837129
436HCHavre37233042
436A4Miles City CLC2582499
436GKGlendive23920930
436GLCut Bank2312283
436GIGlasgow21317439
436GMLewistown1771743
436QBPlentywood24195
Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration

ORGANIZATIONS IN THIS STORY

!RECEIVE ALERTS

The next time we write about any of these orgs, we’ll email you a link to the story. You may edit your settings or unsubscribe at any time.
Sign-up

DONATE

Help support the Metric Media Foundation's mission to restore community based news.
Donate

MORE NEWS