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Tuesday, December 24, 2024

VA Pittsburgh HCS facility in Uniontown scheduled 5,813 medical appointments in February 2021

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The VA Pittsburgh Health Care System, subsidiary 646GE in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, scheduled 5,813 pending appointments during the period ending March 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 5,616 had a wait time of 30 days or less (96.6%) and 197 appointments (3.4%) 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.

However, the Government Accountability Office released a report in July 2019 cautinging 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.

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 do not have service-connected disabilities and earn a higher income are placed in the lower priority groups.

VA Pittsburgh Health Care System Appointments Scheduled in February
Facility CodeLocationTotal Appointments ScheduledAppointments Scheduled 30 Days or LessAppointments Scheduled More than 30 Days
646Pittsburgh35,73532,5583,177
646A4Heinz9,1698,170999
646GBWestmoreland County9,1658,929236
646GDWashington6,8096,578231
646GCRochester6,4086,277131
646GEUniontown5,8135,616197
646GASt. Clairsville4,4844,43549
Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration

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