Sioux Empire Today

The Sioux Falls VA Medical Center, subsidiary 438 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota scheduled 29,815 pending appointments during the period ending February 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 28,708 had a wait time of 30 days or less (96.3%) and 1,107 appointments (3.7%) 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
438	Sioux Falls	29,815	28,708	1,107
438GC	Dakota Dunes	4,871	4,822	49
438GA	Spirit Lake	1,421	1,380	41
438GD	Aberdeen	1,361	1,304	57
438GF	Watertown	946	926	20
438GE	Wagner	151	150	1

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration