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Baton Rouge Reporter

Thursday, December 26, 2024

VA Southeast Louisiana HCS facilities schedule 106,253 medical appointments in September 2019

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The VA Southeast Louisiana Health Care System Louisiana scheduled 106,253 pending appointments across its nine 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 99,380 had a wait time of 30 days or less (93.53%) and 6,873 appointments (6.47%) 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 Southeast Louisiana Health Care System Pending Appointments Scheduled in September
LocationTotal Appointments ScheduledAppointments Scheduled 30 Days or LessAppointments Scheduled More than 30 Days
New Orleans, LA69,75863,9025,856
Baton Rouge, LA15,24314,938305
Houma, LA3,7593,73227
Hammond, LA5,3985,204194
Slidell, LA4,6444,403241
St. John, LA1,7561,72828
Franklin, LA92590718
Bogalusa, LA1,4501,4500
Baton Rouge South, LA3,3203,116204

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