Northwest Montana News

The VA Montana Health Care System reported that seven patients newly enrolled in its benefits program requested appointments but had not received one during the period ending January 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

During that same time frame, the system scheduled 50,557 pending appointments across its 18 healthcare facilities.

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in January 2019 reported that wait times for new appointments at VA health care facilities were similar or better to wait times at private-sector providers between 2014 and 2017.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO), however, released a report in July 2019 that cautioned that 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.

At a hearing before the House Veterans Affairs Committee after the report was released, Debra Draper, health care director at the GAO, said new patients may actually wait up to 70 days for an appointment when they first enroll for benefits.

The VA explains on its website that when veterans apply for benefits, they are assigned to 1 of 8 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	16,084	14,291	1,793
Miles City CLC, MT	349	334	15
Anaconda, MT	1,806	1,737	69
Great Falls, MT	2,691	2,503	188
Missoula, MT (David J. Thatcher)	7,188	6,940	248
Bozeman, MT	1,719	1,654	65
Kalispell, MT	5,411	5,246	165
Billings Majestic Lane, MT (Benjamin Charles Steele)	6,784	6,142	642
Glasgow, MT	181	178	3
Glendive, MT	254	226	28
Cut Bank, MT	195	182	13
Lewistown, MT	481	421	60
Billings Spring Creek Lane, MT (Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow)	4,170	3,863	307
Havre, MT (Merril Lundman)	295	253	42
Hamilton, MT	1,304	1,267	37
Plentywood, MT	37	35	2
Helena, MT	1,608	1,353	255

Source: U.S. Veteran’s Administration