East Panhandle News

The North Florida/South Georgia VA Health Care System reported that 59 patients newly enrolled in its benefits program requested an appointments but had not received one during the period ending December 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

During that same time frame, the system scheduled 204,284 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)	49,557	44,554	5,003
Lake City, FL	12,393	11,161	1,232
Jacksonville 1, FL	31,419	28,622	2,797
Valdosta, GA	4,332	4,299	33
Ocala, FL	8,216	8,103	113
Saint Augustine, FL	7,740	7,557	183
Tallahassee, FL (Sergeant Ernest I. Boots Thomas)	19,590	17,848	1,742
The Villages, FL	23,654	22,632	1,022
St. Marys, GA	2,857	2,799	58
Marianna, FL	2,214	2,179	35
Palatka, FL	2,649	2,629	20
Waycross, GA	2,716	2,685	31
Perry, FL	550	550	0
Gainesville 1-16th Street, FL	42	41	1
Gainesville 2-98th Street, FL	1,002	904	98
Gainesville 3-64th Street (C), FL	90	56	34
Gainesville 4-64th Street (O), FL	4,851	4,547	304
Gainesville 5-64th Street (D), FL	3,833	3,531	302
Gainesville 6-23rd Avenue, FL	17	17	0
Jacksonville Southpoint, FL	10,211	9,522	689
Ocala West, FL	2,667	2,659	8
Jacksonville 2, FL	7,174	6,529	645
Lake City Commerce Drive, FL	4,137	4,107	30

Source: U.S. Veteran’s Administration