Northwest Montana News

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

During that same time frame, the system scheduled 51,611 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	16,025	14,351	1,674
Miles City CLC, MT	306	294	12
Anaconda, MT	1,756	1,716	40
Great Falls, MT	3,219	3,047	172
Missoula, MT (David J. Thatcher)	7,217	7,030	187
Bozeman, MT	1,871	1,789	82
Kalispell, MT	5,640	5,486	154
Billings Majestic Lane, MT (Benjamin Charles Steele)	6,689	6,041	648
Glasgow, MT	199	194	5
Glendive, MT	271	233	38
Cut Bank, MT	224	219	5
Lewistown, MT	547	487	60
Billings Spring Creek Lane, MT (Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow)	4,356	4,084	272
Havre, MT (Merril Lundman)	325	291	34
Hamilton, MT	1,302	1,265	37
Plentywood, MT	32	30	2
Helena, MT	1,632	1,394	238

Source: U.S. Veteran’s Administration