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Northeast South Dakota News

Thursday, November 14, 2024

Sioux Falls VAMC facilities schedule 36,967 medical appointments in November 2019

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The Sioux Falls VA Medical Center South Dakota scheduled 36,967 pending appointments across its six 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 35,372 had a wait time of 30 days or less (95.69%) and 1,595 appointments (4.31%) 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.

Sioux Falls VA Medical Center Pending Appointments Scheduled in November
LocationTotal Appointments ScheduledAppointments Scheduled 30 Days or LessAppointments Scheduled More than 30 Days
Sioux Falls, SD (Royal C. Johnson)28,53127,1691,362
Spirit Lake, IA1,4131,36944
Sioux City, SD4,7094,62980
Aberdeen, SD1,2401,17763
Wagner, SD1361297
Watertown, SD93889939

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