Central Montana Times

The VA Montana Health Care System Montana scheduled 46,584 pending appointments across its locations during the period ending July 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments 40,540 had a wait time of 30 days or less (87.03%) and 6,044 appointments (12.97%) were scheduled more than 30 days out.

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in January 2019 reported 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 cautioning 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.

Debra Draper, health care director at the GAO, told the House Veterans Affairs Committee new patients may actually wait up to 70 days for an appointment when they first enroll for benefits.

The VA explains 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 don’t have service-connected disabilities and who earn a higher income are placed in the lower priority groups.

Location	Total Appointments Scheduled	Appointments Scheduled 30 Days or Less	Appointments Scheduled More than 30 Days
Fort Harrison, MT	15,792	13,406	2,386
Miles City, MT	599	528	71
Anaconda, MT	1,786	1,751	35
Great Falls, MT	2,544	2,159	385
Missoula, MT (David J. Thatcher)	6,939	6,335	604
Bozeman, MT	1,628	1,497	131
Kalispell, MT	4,933	4,642	291
Billings-Majestic, MT (Benjamin Charles Steele)	6,022	5,171	851
Glasgow, MT	188	163	25
Glendive, MT	203	176	27
Cut Bank, MT	151	110	41
Lewistown, MT	423	344	79
Billings-Spring Creek, MT (Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow)	2,861	2,093	768
Havre, MT (Merril Lundman)	243	210	33
IDES Malmstrom AFB	4	4	0
Hamilton, MT	995	907	88
Plentywood, MT	13	13	0
Helena, MT	1,260	1,031	229