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Saturday, November 23, 2024

106 newly enrolled St. Louis, MO VAMC patients seek medical appointments in July 2020

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The St. Louis, MO VA Medical Center reported that 106 patients newly enrolled in its benefits program requested appointments but had not received one during the period ending August 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

During that same time frame, the system scheduled 51,712 pending appointments across its 13 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.

St. Louis, MO VA Medical Center Pending Appointments Scheduled in August
LocationTotal Appointments ScheduledAppointments Scheduled 30 Days or LessAppointments Scheduled More than 30 Days
St. Louis John Cochran, MO (John Cochran)23,23421,7251,509
St. Louis Jefferson Barracks, MO14,86714,270597
St. Louis-Jefferson Barracks, MO - VADOM1141140
St. Clair County, IL2,4652,333132
St. Louis County, MO2,9532,93716
St. Charles County, MO2,5322,50725
Franklin County, MO1,00098812
Washington Avenue, MO1,0831,06122
Manchester Avenue, MO1,1641,14123
Olive Street, MO2,1602,13327
Washington Boulevard, MO87870
Source: U.S. Veteran’s Administration

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