PHX Reporter

The VA Northern Arizona Health Care System ranked 124th among VA health care systems with 29,371 pending appointments across its 12 locations during the period ending Feb. 1, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in January 2019 reported wait times for new appointments at VA health care facilities were similar to or better than wait times at private-sector providers between 2014 and 2017.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO), however, released a report in July 2019 cautioning 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.

Debra Draper, health care director at the GAO, told the House Veterans Affairs Committee new patients may actually wait up to 70 days for an appointment when they first enroll for benefits.

The VA explains that when veterans apply for benefits, they are assigned to one of eight priority groups, with those 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.

Rank	Health Care System	Total Pending Appointments Scheduled
1	North Florida/South Georgia VA HCS	267,416
2	Orlando VAMC	243,255
3	VA Atlanta HCS	218,068
4	James A. Haley VA Hospital	216,221
5	VA North Texas HCS	207,630
6	VA Bay Pines HCS	207,402
7	W. G. Hefner VA MC	205,246
8	Michael E. DeBakey VAMC	204,523
9	VA Central Texas HCS	204,044
10	Louis Stokes Cleveland VAMC	201,039
11	Tennessee Valley HCS	199,111
12	VA South Texas HCS	191,176
13	Wm. Jennings Bryan Dorn VAMC	160,218
14	VA Caribbean HCS	159,645
15	VA Loma Linda HCS	149,590
16	VA Phoenix HCS	149,409
17	Fayetteville VAMC	141,704
18	Durham VAMC	141,284
19	Hunter Holmes McGuire Richmond VAMC	140,167
20	VA Northern California HCS	130,656
21	VA Southern Nevada HCS	128,547
22	VA Central Arkansas HCS	127,331
23	Ralph H. Johnson VAMC	123,586
24	Birmingham VAMC	122,621
25	West Palm Beach VAMC	122,374
26	VA Greater Los Angeles HCS	121,588
27	VA Gulf Coast Veterans HCS	119,806
28	Oklahoma City VAMC	117,699
29	VA Minneapolis HCS	115,727
30	Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital	115,442
31	VA Miami HCS	112,936
32	St. Louis, MO VAMC	112,366
33	VA Pittsburgh HCS	107,635
34	VA Southeast Louisiana HCS	107,143
35	VA Eastern Colorado HCS	106,603
36	Mountain Home VAMC	105,747
37	Milwaukee VAMC	105,305
38	VA Long Beach HCS	102,971
39	Philadelphia VAMC	101,656
40	VA New Jersey HCS	100,365
41	VA Southern Arizona HCS	97,503
42	VA Boston HCS	97,257
43	Hampton VAMC	97,179
44	VA San Diego HCS	97,174
45	Portland VAMC	96,743
46	VA Connecticut HCS	95,219
47	Chalmers P. Wylie Ambulatory VA HCS	94,236
48	Syracuse VAMC	94,188
49	Charles George VAMC	93,807
50	VA New Mexico HCS	90,673
51	Robley Rex VAMC	89,425
52	Lebanon VAMC	88,584
53	VA Ann Arbor HCS	88,521
54	Memphis VAMC	87,031
55	John D. Dingell VAMC	83,309
56	Richard L. Roudebush VAMC	82,987
57	VA Puget Sound HCS	82,851
58	Cincinnati VAMC	82,724
59	Harry S. Truman Memorial VA Hospital	82,311
60	Salem VAMC	80,908
61	Charlie Norwood VAMC	79,623
62	Providence VAMC	78,855
63	Kansas City VAMC	77,853
64	VA Western New York at Buffalo HCS	74,841
65	VA Central Alabama HCS	74,280
66	VA Salt Lake City HCS	73,353
67	VA of the Ozarks HCS	73,263
68	Wilkes-Barre VAMC	71,435
69	Dayton VAMC	71,283
70	VA Nebraska-Western Iowa HCS	70,657
71	VA Maryland HCS	70,199
72	VA Northern Indiana HCS	69,781
73	Montgomery VAMC	69,777
74	Washington DC VAMC	69,332
75	Carl Vinson VAMC	69,302
76	Jesse Brown VAMC	69,231
77	Overton Brooks VAMC	68,662
78	Muskogee VAMC	67,646
79	VA Maine HCS	66,019
80	Martinsburg VAMC	61,183
81	VA El Paso HCS	60,593
82	VA Eastern Kansas HCS	60,464
83	Battle Creek VAMC	60,310
84	VA NY Harbor HCS	59,276
85	VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend HCS	58,135
86	VA Palo Alto HCS	57,809
87	Marion VAMC	57,765
88	Hershel 'Woody' Williams VAMC	56,963
89	San Francisco VAMC	56,405
90	Northport Affairs VAMC	56,273
91	Albany Stratton VAMC	55,913
92	VA Iowa City HCS	54,369
93	VA Alexandria HCS	53,191
94	Wilmington VAMC	52,047
95	Bath VAMC	51,821
96	VA Montana HCS	51,611
97	Robert J. Dole VAMC	50,969
98	VA St. Cloud HCS	49,695
99	VA Central Western Massachusetts HCS	48,775
100	VA Amarillo HCS	48,572
101	VA Pacific Islands HCS	47,272
102	Aleda E. Lutz VAMC	46,866
103	Louis A. Johnson VAMC	45,199
104	Manchester VAMC	44,940
105	James E. Van Zandt Altoona VAMC	44,001
106	VA Central California HCS	43,614
107	White River Junction VAMC	43,505
108	Madison VA Hospital	43,460
109	Lexington VAMC	43,128
110	VA Sierra Nevada HCS	43,126
111	James J. Peters VAMC	41,372
112	Sioux Falls VAMC	38,565
113	Chillicothe VAMC	37,657
114	Roseburg VAMC	37,290
115	VA Illiana HCS	36,802
116	Erie VAMC	36,543
117	Fargo VAMC	36,460
118	VA Hudson Valley HCS	35,950
119	Boise VAMC	35,350
120	James A. Lovell Federal HCS	35,331
121	VA Central Iowa HCS	32,192
122	Poplar Bluff VAMC	30,931
123	Tomah VAMC	30,342
124	VA Northern Arizona HCS	29,371
125	Beckley VAMC	26,797
126	VA Butler HCS	26,092
127	Coatesville VAMC	24,346
128	Spokane VAMC	24,171
129	Cheyenne VAMC	21,899
130	Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial VA Hospital	21,776
131	VA West Texas HCS	21,443
132	Tuscaloosa VAMC	20,794
133	VA Black Hills HCS	19,333
134	Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VAMC	18,266
135	Grand Junction VAMC	15,289
136	Oscar G. Johnson VAMC	14,459
137	Southern Oregon HCS	10,109
138	Sheridan VAMC	9,714
139	VA Alaska HCS	8,275

Source: U.S. Veteran’s Administration