Central Montana Times

The VA Montana Health Care System Montana scheduled 44,032 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 40,751 had a wait time of 30 days or less (92.55%) and 3,281 appointments (7.45%) 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	13,927	12,218	1,709
Miles City CLC, MT	259	253	6
Anaconda, MT	1,406	1,381	25
Great Falls, MT	3,305	3,185	120
Missoula, MT (David J. Thatcher)	6,131	5,991	140
Bozeman, MT	1,346	1,300	46
Kalispell, MT	4,665	4,596	69
Billings Majestic Lane, MT (Benjamin Charles Steele)	5,377	4,589	788
Glasgow, MT	264	258	6
Glendive, MT	261	255	6
Cut Bank, MT	266	264	2
Lewistown, MT	214	204	10
Billings Spring Creek Lane, MT (Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow)	4,292	4,014	278
Havre, MT (Merril Lundman)	415	401	14
Hamilton, MT	1,236	1,218	18
Plentywood, MT	22	21	1
Helena, MT	646	603	43