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Sunday, December 22, 2024

VA Palo Alto HCS facilities schedule 53,375 medical appointments in November 2019

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The VA Palo Alto Health Care System California scheduled 53,375 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 44,230 had a wait time of 30 days or less (82.87%) and 9,145 appointments (17.13%) 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 Palo Alto Health Care System Pending Appointments Scheduled in November
LocationTotal Appointments ScheduledAppointments Scheduled 30 Days or LessAppointments Scheduled More than 30 Days
Palo Alto, CA22,20119,3182,883
Menlo Park, CA2,0831,849234
Livermore, CA8,4606,6431,817
San Jose, CA4,6663,5651,101
Capitola, CA29619799
Sonora, CA1,393995398
Fremont, CA86979475
Stockton, CA3,1912,352839
Modesto, CA3,6632,896767
Monterey, CA (Major General William H. Gourley)6,5535,621932

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