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Saturday, November 23, 2024

VA reports increase of November appointments scheduled at VA South Texas HCS health facility in New Braunfels

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The VA South Texas Health Care System, subsidiary 671GL in New Braunfels, Texas scheduled 5,613 pending appointments in November compared to 4,377 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 November, 5,460 had a wait time of 30 days or less (97.3%) and 153 appointments (2.7%) 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.

VA South Texas Health Care System - 671GL Appointments Scheduled in November 2020 vs. November 2019

Facility CodeLocationTotal Appointments Scheduled in November 2020Total Appointments Scheduled in November 2019Percent change in number of appointments
671San Antonio56,40368,708-17.9%
671A4Kerrville12,74714,770-13.7%
671BUSan Antonio60154-61%
671GBVictoria2,5382,987-15%
671GFSan Antonio4,7215,064-6.8%
671GHBeeville37026738.6%
671GKSan Antonio14,94114,4703.3%
671GLNew Braunfels5,6134,37728.2%
671GNSeguin1,2041,04814.9%
671GPBalcones Heights9,7788,61113.6%
671GQShavano Park4,5465,479-17%
671QBSan Antonio17,68224,589-28.1%
Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration

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