Quantcast

SE Texas Times

Thursday, December 26, 2024

Michael E. DeBakey VAMC facilities schedule 173,086 medical appointments in April 2020

Istock 000003255680 medium

The Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston Texas scheduled 173,086 pending appointments across its locations during the period ending April 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments 166,328 had a wait time of 30 days or less (96.1%) and 6,758 appointments (3.9%) 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.

Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston Pending Appointments Scheduled in April
LocationTotal Appointments ScheduledAppointments Scheduled 30 Days or LessAppointments Scheduled More than 30 Days
Houston, TX (Michael E. DeBakey)97,93192,8945,037
Beaumont, TX8,7258,63788
Lufkin, TX (Charles Wilson)11,25111,011240
Galveston County, TX1,8491,8436
Conroe, TX13,28112,703578
Katy, TX11,24710,888359
Lake Jackson, TX3,1493,11831
Richmond, TX7,0206,92595
Tomball, TX9,6259,447178
Texas City, TX9,0088,862146

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