East Panhandle News

The North Florida/South Georgia VA Health Care System reported that 10 patients newly enrolled in its benefits program requested appointments but had not received one during the period ending February 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

During that same time frame, the system scheduled 267,416 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)	59,902	55,123	4,779
Lake City, FL	17,304	16,024	1,280
Jacksonville 1, FL	42,810	37,629	5,181
Valdosta, GA	5,030	4,883	147
Ocala, FL	10,053	9,641	412
Saint Augustine, FL	9,649	9,244	405
Tallahassee, FL (Sergeant Ernest I. Boots Thomas)	27,304	26,126	1,178
Lecanto, FL	3	3	0
The Villages, FL	30,712	29,108	1,604
St. Marys, GA	4,041	3,910	131
Marianna, FL	3,138	3,129	9
Palatka, FL	3,377	3,329	48
Waycross, GA	3,251	3,196	55
Perry, FL	615	613	2
Gainesville 1-16th Street, FL	70	70	0
Gainesville 2-98th Street, FL	1,161	1,097	64
Gainesville 3-64th Street (C), FL	1,646	1,043	603
Gainesville 4-64th Street (O), FL	7,086	6,912	174
Gainesville 5-64th Street (D), FL	4,825	4,550	275
Gainesville 6-23rd Avenue, FL	31	24	7
Jacksonville Southpoint, FL	14,362	13,284	1,078
Ocala West, FL	5,138	4,703	435
Jacksonville 2, FL	11,561	11,073	488
Lake City Commerce Drive, FL	4,347	4,340	7

Source: U.S. Veteran’s Administration