Quantcast

ABQ Times

Sunday, November 24, 2024

VA New Mexico HCS facilities schedule 85,924 medical appointments in March 2019

Istock 000004671195 medium

The VA New Mexico Health Care System in Albuquerque New Mexico scheduled 85,924 pending appointments across its locations during the period ending March 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments 76,024 had a wait time of 30 days or less (88.48%) and 9,900 appointments (11.52%) 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 March
LocationTotal Appointments ScheduledAppointments Scheduled 30 Days or LessAppointments Scheduled More than 30 Days
Albuquerque, NM (Raymond G. Murphy)65,07256,4188,654
Las Vegas, NM88886028
Artesia, NM1,0541,03618
Farmington, NM2,0201,750270
Silver City, NM63561124
Gallup, NM1,2831,21073
Espanola, NM1,1171,07344
Truth or Consequences, NM1,1031,08023
Alamogordo, NM1,4611,329132
Durango, CO1,8061,76244
Santa Fe, NM3,0632,866197
Northwest Metro, NM5,0634,736327
Taos, NM93788453
Raton, NM41440113
IDES Kirtland AFB880

!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