East Panhandle News

The North Florida/South Georgia VA Health Care System, subsidiary 573GN in Perry, Florida scheduled 619 pending appointments during the period ending November 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 618 had a wait time of 30 days or less (99.8%) and one appointment (0.2%) was 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
573	Gainesville	56,939	53,043	3,896
573BY	Jacksonville	42,953	37,810	5,143
573GI	The Villages	30,160	28,770	1,390
573GF	Tallahassee	26,567	25,542	1,025
573A4	Lake City	18,134	16,983	1,151
573QG	Jacksonville Southpoint	14,053	13,199	854
573QJ	Jacksonville	11,434	10,862	572
573GD	Ocala	9,748	9,544	204
573GE	Saint Augustine	8,858	8,652	206
573QD	Gainesville	6,727	6,565	162
573QE	Gainesville	5,225	4,961	264
573QH	Ocala	5,094	4,665	429
573GA	Valdosta	4,995	4,879	116
573GJ	St. Marys	3,929	3,800	129
573QK	Lake City	3,836	3,828	8
573GL	Palatka	3,282	3,246	36
573GM	Waycross	3,209	3,161	48
573GK	Marianna	3,064	3,057	7
573QC	Gainesville	1,677	898	779
573QB	Gainesville 2-98th Street	1,128	1,070	58
573GN	Perry	619	618	1
573QA	Gainesville 1-16th Street	65	65	0
573QF	Gainesville	25	23	2
573GG	Lecanto	5	5	0

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration