East Panhandle News

The North Florida/South Georgia VA Health Care System reported that 31 patients newly enrolled in its benefits program requested appointments but had not received one during the period ending July 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

During that same time frame, the system scheduled 188,314 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)	46,128	42,426	3,702
Lake City, FL	11,777	10,962	815
Jacksonville 1, FL	29,995	27,437	2,558
Valdosta, GA	4,125	4,097	28
Ocala, FL	8,595	8,461	134
Saint Augustine, FL	6,269	6,201	68
Tallahassee, FL (Sergeant Ernest I. Boots Thomas)	16,817	16,060	757
Lecanto, FL	1	1	0
The Villages, FL	19,657	18,879	778
St. Marys, GA	2,977	2,936	41
Marianna, FL	2,407	2,348	59
Palatka, FL	2,720	2,692	28
Waycross, GA	2,718	2,694	24
Perry, FL	443	443	0
Gainesville 1-16th Street, FL	44	44	0
Gainesville 2-98th Street, FL	896	831	65
Gainesville 3-64th Street (C), FL	296	127	169
Gainesville 4-64th Street (O), FL	3,704	3,619	85
Gainesville 5-64th Street (D), FL	3,064	2,954	110
Gainesville 6-23rd Avenue, FL	14	2	12
Jacksonville Southpoint, FL	10,655	10,083	572
Ocala West, FL	2,642	2,591	51
Jacksonville 2, FL	8,703	8,213	490
Lake City Commerce Drive, FL	3,667	3,625	42

Source: U.S. Veteran’s Administration