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Thursday, November 21, 2024

VA New Mexico HCS facilities schedule 87,677 medical appointments in September 2019

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The VA New Mexico Health Care System in Albuquerque New Mexico scheduled 87,677 pending appointments across its locations during the period ending September 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments 78,550 had a wait time of 30 days or less (89.59%) and 9,127 appointments (10.41%) 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 New Mexico Health Care System in Albuquerque Pending Appointments Scheduled in September
LocationTotal Appointments ScheduledAppointments Scheduled 30 Days or LessAppointments Scheduled More than 30 Days
Albuquerque, NM (Raymond G. Murphy)65,01857,1137,905
Las Vegas, NM96394518
Artesia, NM1,8561,80056
Farmington, NM2,5662,399167
Silver City, NM85582134
Gallup, NM1,2521,19458
Espanola, NM68864048
Truth or Consequences, NM98697313
Alamogordo, NM1,4981,302196
Durango, CO1,8451,82124
Santa Fe, NM3,1663,049117
Northwest Metro, NM5,4445,024420
Taos, NM95188665
Raton, NM5895836

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