East Panhandle News

The North Florida/South Georgia VA Health Care System reported that 39 patients newly enrolled in its benefits program requested appointments but had not received one during the period ending September 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

During that same time frame, the system scheduled 189,666 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)	46,586	42,952	3,634
Lake City, FL	11,137	10,291	846
Jacksonville 1, FL	29,764	27,437	2,327
Valdosta, GA	4,152	4,116	36
Ocala, FL	8,466	8,297	169
Saint Augustine, FL	6,843	6,638	205
Tallahassee, FL (Sergeant Ernest I. Boots Thomas)	18,518	17,184	1,334
Lecanto, FL	1	1	0
The Villages, FL	21,153	19,920	1,233
St. Marys, GA	2,647	2,604	43
Marianna, FL	2,002	1,974	28
Palatka, FL	2,409	2,405	4
Waycross, GA	2,701	2,680	21
Perry, FL	463	463	0
Gainesville 1-16th Street, FL	42	42	0
Gainesville 2-98th Street, FL	931	856	75
Gainesville 3-64th Street (C), FL	460	295	165
Gainesville 4-64th Street (O), FL	3,024	2,939	85
Gainesville 5-64th Street (D), FL	3,162	3,023	139
Gainesville 6-23rd Avenue, FL	23	15	8
Jacksonville Southpoint, FL	10,635	9,883	752
Ocala West, FL	2,792	2,779	13
Jacksonville 2, FL	8,311	7,771	540
Lake City Commerce Drive, FL	3,444	3,427	17

Source: U.S. Veteran’s Administration