NE Wyoming News

The Sheridan VA Medical Center, subsidiary 666GE in Gillette, Wyoming scheduled 899 pending appointments during the period ending October 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 885 had a wait time of 30 days or less (98.4%) and 14 appointments (1.6%) 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 who 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	3,570	3,402	168
666GB	Casper	2,504	2,435	69
666GE	Gillette	899	885	14
666GF	Rock Springs	738	690	48
666GD	Cody	607	580	27
666GC	Riverton	576	560	16
666QA	Afton	330	326	4
666QB	Evanston	71	67	4
666QC	Worland	49	46	3

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration