East Panhandle News

The North Florida/South Georgia VA Health Care System reported that 30 patients newly enrolled in its benefits program requested appointments but had not received one during the period ending May 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

During that same time frame, the system scheduled 195,207 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)	42,535	39,199	3,336
Lake City, FL	11,744	10,847	897
Jacksonville 1, FL	30,902	28,192	2,710
Valdosta, GA	4,386	4,354	32
Ocala, FL	8,948	8,721	227
Saint Augustine, FL	7,403	7,284	119
Tallahassee, FL (Sergeant Ernest I. Boots Thomas)	18,281	17,725	556
Lecanto, FL	1	1	0
The Villages, FL	20,943	20,187	756
St. Marys, GA	3,468	3,385	83
Marianna, FL	2,674	2,667	7
Palatka, FL	2,832	2,823	9
Waycross, GA	2,833	2,803	30
Perry, FL	453	453	0
Gainesville 1-16th Street, FL	88	88	0
Gainesville 2-98th Street, FL	381	353	28
Gainesville 3-64th Street (C), FL	386	80	306
Gainesville 4-64th Street (O), FL	4,458	4,329	129
Gainesville 5-64th Street (D), FL	3,108	3,036	72
Gainesville 6-23rd Avenue, FL	10	2	8
Jacksonville Southpoint, FL	11,666	11,086	580
Ocala West, FL	3,262	3,143	119
Jacksonville 2, FL	10,837	10,188	649
Lake City Commerce Drive, FL	3,608	3,601	7

Source: U.S. Veteran’s Administration