East Panhandle News

The North Florida/South Georgia VA Health Care System reported that 24 patients newly enrolled in its benefits program requested appointments but had not received one during the period ending August 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

During that same time frame, the system scheduled 190,170 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)	47,031	43,271	3,760
Lake City, FL	11,521	10,755	766
Jacksonville 1, FL	29,493	27,128	2,365
Valdosta, GA	3,942	3,915	27
Ocala, FL	8,522	8,389	133
Saint Augustine, FL	6,677	6,590	87
Tallahassee, FL (Sergeant Ernest I. Boots Thomas)	17,369	16,532	837
Lecanto, FL	1	1	0
The Villages, FL	20,417	19,261	1,156
St. Marys, GA	2,925	2,880	45
Marianna, FL	2,213	2,150	63
Palatka, FL	2,745	2,734	11
Waycross, GA	2,762	2,743	19
Perry, FL	438	438	0
Gainesville 1-16th Street, FL	59	59	0
Gainesville 2-98th Street, FL	937	857	80
Gainesville 3-64th Street (C), FL	481	267	214
Gainesville 4-64th Street (O), FL	3,516	3,438	78
Gainesville 5-64th Street (D), FL	3,233	3,131	102
Gainesville 6-23rd Avenue, FL	32	12	20
Jacksonville Southpoint, FL	10,681	10,103	578
Ocala West, FL	2,765	2,753	12
Jacksonville 2, FL	8,858	8,292	566
Lake City Commerce Drive, FL	3,552	3,541	11

Source: U.S. Veteran’s Administration