Panama City Reporter

The North Florida/South Georgia VA Health Care System reported that 35 patients newly enrolled in its benefits program requested appointments but had not received one during the period ending September 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

During that same time frame, the system scheduled 267,658 pending appointments across its 24 healthcare facilities.

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 or better to 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.

At a hearing before the House Veterans Affairs Committee after the report was released, Debra Draper, health care director at the GAO, said new patients may actually wait up to 70 days for an appointment when they first enroll for benefits.

The VA explains on its website that when veterans apply for benefits, they are assigned to 1 of 8 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.

Location	Total Appointments Scheduled	Appointments Scheduled 30 Days or Less	Appointments Scheduled More than 30 Days
Gainesville, FL (Malcom Randall)	58,101	54,366	3,735
Lake City, FL	18,386	17,170	1,216
Jacksonville 1, FL	43,854	38,655	5,199
Valdosta, GA	4,925	4,808	117
Ocala, FL	9,997	9,808	189
Saint Augustine, FL	9,009	8,808	201
Tallahassee, FL (Sergeant Ernest I. Boots Thomas)	26,840	26,068	772
Lecanto, FL	2,269	2,264	5
The Villages, FL	30,495	29,087	1,408
St. Marys, GA	4,259	4,081	178
Marianna, FL	3,008	2,999	9
Palatka, FL	3,261	3,239	22
Waycross, GA	3,111	3,092	19
Perry, FL	599	598	1
Gainesville 1-16th Street, FL	74	73	1
Gainesville 2-98th Street, FL	1,130	1,059	71
Gainesville 3-64th Street (C), FL	1,614	1,131	483
Gainesville 4-64th Street (O), FL	6,615	6,483	132
Gainesville 5-64th Street (D), FL	5,005	4,735	270
Gainesville 6-23rd Avenue, FL	30	20	10
Jacksonville Southpoint, FL	14,516	13,590	926
Ocala West, FL	5,263	4,744	519
Jacksonville 2, FL	11,515	10,874	641
Lake City Commerce Drive, FL	3,782	3,768	14

Source: U.S. Veteran’s Administration