Quantcast

Wichita Standard

Tuesday, December 24, 2024

VA reports decrease of October appointments scheduled at Robert J. Dole VAMC health facility in Wichita

Istock 000003255680 medium

The Robert J. Dole VA Medical Center, subsidiary 589A7 in Wichita, Kansas scheduled 31,533 pending appointments in October compared to 34,184 during the same period last year, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments this October, 29,431 had a wait time of 30 days or less (93.3%) and 2,102 appointments (6.7%) were scheduled more than 30 days out.

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 cautioning 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 do not have service-connected disabilities and earn a higher income are placed in the lower priority groups.

Robert J. Dole VA Medical Center - 589A7 Appointments Scheduled in October 2020 vs. October 2019

Facility CodeLocationTotal Appointments Scheduled in October 2020Total Appointments Scheduled in October 2019Percent change in number of appointments
589A7Wichita31,53334,184-7.8%
589G2Dodge City1,2181,00421.3%
589G3Liberal33530011.7%
589G4Hays1,9931,03392.9%
589G5Parsons8451,351-37.5%
589G7Hutchinson2,1332,262-5.7%
589GWSalina3,1683,273-3.2%
Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration

ORGANIZATIONS IN THIS STORY

!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