East Panhandle News

The North Florida/South Georgia VA Health Care System reported that 49 patients newly enrolled in its benefits program requested appointments but had not received one during the period ending June 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

During that same time frame, the system scheduled 180,165 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)	41,401	38,048	3,353
Lake City, FL	11,360	10,482	878
Jacksonville 1, FL	28,938	26,630	2,308
Valdosta, GA	3,844	3,824	20
Ocala, FL	8,374	8,223	151
Saint Augustine, FL	6,449	6,364	85
Tallahassee, FL (Sergeant Ernest I. Boots Thomas)	16,004	15,587	417
Lecanto, FL	1	1	0
The Villages, FL	18,549	17,837	712
St. Marys, GA	3,053	2,993	60
Marianna, FL	2,306	2,302	4
Palatka, FL	2,770	2,758	12
Waycross, GA	2,746	2,717	29
Perry, FL	423	423	0
Gainesville 1-16th Street, FL	67	67	0
Gainesville 2-98th Street, FL	473	434	39
Gainesville 3-64th Street (C), FL	318	79	239
Gainesville 4-64th Street (O), FL	3,885	3,754	131
Gainesville 5-64th Street (D), FL	2,612	2,565	47
Gainesville 6-23rd Avenue, FL	1	0	1
Jacksonville Southpoint, FL	11,218	10,785	433
Ocala West, FL	2,743	2,653	90
Jacksonville 2, FL	9,324	8,811	513
Lake City Commerce Drive, FL	3,306	3,283	23

Source: U.S. Veteran’s Administration