Central Montana Times

The VA Montana Health Care System Montana scheduled 47,387 pending appointments across its locations during the period ending November 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments 43,204 had a wait time of 30 days or less (91.17%) and 4,183 appointments (8.83%) 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	14,907	12,929	1,978
Miles City CLC, MT	312	277	35
Anaconda, MT	1,758	1,711	47
Great Falls, MT	2,796	2,568	228
Missoula, MT (David J. Thatcher)	6,901	6,654	247
Bozeman, MT	1,592	1,546	46
Kalispell, MT	5,305	5,067	238
Billings Majestic Lane, MT (Benjamin Charles Steele)	6,146	5,599	547
Glasgow, MT	167	162	5
Glendive, MT	212	187	25
Cut Bank, MT	147	127	20
Lewistown, MT	468	404	64
Billings Spring Creek Lane, MT (Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow)	3,634	3,228	406
Havre, MT (Merril Lundman)	273	222	51
Hamilton, MT	1,279	1,235	44
Plentywood, MT	30	29	1
Helena, MT	1,460	1,259	201