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Oklahoma City VAMC facilities schedule 116,409 medical appointments in February 2020

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The Oklahoma City VA Medical Center Oklahoma scheduled 116,409 pending appointments across its locations during the period ending February 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments 109,843 had a wait time of 30 days or less (94.36%) and 6,566 appointments (5.64%) 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.

Oklahoma City VA Medical Center Pending Appointments Scheduled in February
LocationTotal Appointments ScheduledAppointments Scheduled 30 Days or LessAppointments Scheduled More than 30 Days
Oklahoma City, OK70,32264,4665,856
Lawton, OK18,59018,082508
Wichita Falls, TX4,0204,00911
Blackwell, OK3833803
Ada, OK3683617
Stillwater, OK1,6211,6192
Altus, OK1,1741,1704
Enid, OK1,0261,0251
Ardmore, OK1,6501,6482
North May, OK5,3245,3204
South Oklahoma City, OK11,07910,912167
Fourteenth Street, OK8528511

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