NW Wyoming News

The Sheridan VA Medical Center, subsidiary 666GC in Riverton, Wyoming, scheduled 216 pending appointments during the period ending September 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 205 had a wait time of 30 days or less (94.9%) and 11 appointments (5.1%) were scheduled more than 30 days out.

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in January 2019 reported that 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 that cautioned that 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 on its website that 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.

Facility Code	Location	Total Appointments Scheduled	Appointments Scheduled 30 Days or Less	Appointments Scheduled More than 30 Days
666	Sheridan	2,530	2,171	359
666GB	Casper	2,357	2,317	40
666GF	Rock Springs	550	529	21
666GE	Gillette	347	335	12
666QA	Afton	248	241	7
666GC	Riverton	216	205	11
666GD	Cody	205	196	9
666QB	Evanston	36	33	3
666QC	Worland	17	15	2

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration