Quantcast

North Country Leader

Wednesday, December 25, 2024

Syracuse VAMC facilities schedule 81,781 medical appointments in March 2019

Shutterstock 112917010

The Syracuse VA Medical Center New York scheduled 81,781 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 76,582 had a wait time of 30 days or less (93.64%) and 5,199 appointments (6.36%) 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.

Syracuse VA Medical Center Pending Appointments Scheduled in March
LocationTotal Appointments ScheduledAppointments Scheduled 30 Days or LessAppointments Scheduled More than 30 Days
Syracuse, NY42,56539,3973,168
Auburn, NY1,7491,72227
Tompkins County, NY1,6931,63855
Massena, NY2,9632,93429
Rome, NY (Donald J. Mitchell)8,0107,734276
Binghamton, NY6,8546,587267
Watertown, NY5,6955,467228
Oswego, NY2,4532,39459
Erie West, NY3,9683,753215
South Salina, NY91910
Erie East, NY4,3443,530814
Watertown 2, NY1,3961,33561

!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