Quantcast

NE Valley Times

Saturday, November 16, 2024

VA Phoenix HCS facilities schedule 132,921 medical appointments in February 2021

Istock 000003255680 medium

The VA Phoenix Health Care System Arizona scheduled 132,921 pending appointments across its locations during the period ending February 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments 121,541 had a wait time of 30 days or less (91.44%) and 11,380 appointments (8.56%) 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.

VA Phoenix Health Care System Pending Appointments Scheduled in February
LocationTotal Appointments ScheduledAppointments Scheduled 30 Days or LessAppointments Scheduled More than 30 Days
Phoenix, AZ (Carl T. Hayden)71,37862,9638,415
Southeast Gilbert, AZ27,06425,4931,571
Northwest Surprise, AZ11,68211,317365
Show Low, AZ1,4961,314182
Southwest Phoenix, AZ4,2554,054201
Payson, AZ53847662
Thunderbird, AZ3,8763,753123
Globe, AZ44140338
Northeast Phoenix, AZ3,0182,814204
Phoenix Midtown, AZ9,1738,954219

!RECEIVE ALERTS

The next time we write about any of these orgs, we’ll email you a link to the story. You may edit your settings or unsubscribe at any time.
Sign-up

DONATE

Help support the Metric Media Foundation's mission to restore community based news.
Donate

MORE NEWS