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Friday, November 22, 2024

VA Eastern Kansas HCS facilities schedule 55,726 medical appointments in November 2019

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The VA Eastern Kansas Health Care System Kansas scheduled 55,726 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 53,440 had a wait time of 30 days or less (95.9%) and 2,286 appointments (4.1%) 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 Eastern Kansas Health Care System Pending Appointments Scheduled in November
LocationTotal Appointments ScheduledAppointments Scheduled 30 Days or LessAppointments Scheduled More than 30 Days
Topeka, KS (Colmery-ONeil)24,76623,4981,268
Leavenworth, KS (Dwight D. Eisenhower)20,21119,622589
Leavenworth, KS - VADOM1,0341,0268
St. Joseph, MO2,4342,329105
Wyandotte County, KS1,1971,15542
Chanute, KS33132011
Garnett, KS1691645
Junction City, KS (Lieutenant General Richard J. Seitz-Based)3,3473,123224
Lawrence, KS37536510
Fort Scott, KS8007928
Platte City, MO1,01199516
Ft. Riley DES Clinic36360
IDES Fort Leavenworth15150

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