Central Montana Times

The VA Montana Health Care System Montana scheduled 51,026 pending appointments across its locations during the period ending March 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments 47,844 had a wait time of 30 days or less (93.76%) and 3,182 appointments (6.24%) 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	15,933	14,446	1,487
Miles City CLC, MT	315	305	10
Anaconda, MT	1,719	1,689	30
Great Falls, MT	3,350	3,222	128
Missoula, MT (David J. Thatcher)	7,105	6,965	140
Bozeman, MT	1,757	1,686	71
Kalispell, MT	5,183	5,020	163
Billings Majestic Lane, MT (Benjamin Charles Steele)	7,447	6,902	545
Glasgow, MT	213	207	6
Glendive, MT	265	239	26
Cut Bank, MT	239	235	4
Lewistown, MT	564	531	33
Billings Spring Creek Lane, MT (Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow)	3,662	3,391	271
Havre, MT (Merril Lundman)	354	339	15
IDES Malmstrom AFB	2	2	0
Hamilton, MT	1,329	1,278	51
Plentywood, MT	22	19	3
Helena, MT	1,559	1,360	199