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NC South Carolina Times

Thursday, November 21, 2024

Wm. Jennings Bryan Dorn VAMC facilities schedule 133,118 medical appointments in April 2020

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The Wm. Jennings Bryan Dorn VA Medical Center in Columbia South Carolina scheduled 133,118 pending appointments across its nine 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 122,721 had a wait time of 30 days or less (92.19%) and 10,397 appointments (7.81%) 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.

Wm. Jennings Bryan Dorn VA Medical Center in Columbia Pending Appointments Scheduled in April
LocationTotal Appointments ScheduledAppointments Scheduled 30 Days or LessAppointments Scheduled More than 30 Days
Columbia, SC (Wm. Jennings Bryan Dorn)76,46169,2127,249
Greenville, SC18,80017,0181,782
Florence, SC7,4227,36161
Rock Hill, SC9,2379,050187
Anderson, SC7,4676,788679
Orangeburg, SC3,3143,25361
Sumter, SC4,1424,05488
Spartanburg, SC5,4235,302121
Columbia, SC - Mobile852683169

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