South Alabama Times

The VA Central Alabama Health Care System, subsidiary 619GE in Monroeville, Alabama scheduled 999 pending appointments during the period ending February 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 966 had a wait time of 30 days or less (96.7%) and 33 appointments (3.3%) were scheduled more than 30 days out.

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 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 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.

The VA explains on its website that when veterans apply for benefits, they are assigned to one of eight priority groups, with those who need immediate care due to service-related disabilities placed in higher priority groups. Veterans who do not have service-connected disabilities and who earn a higher income are placed in the lower priority groups.

Facility Code	Location	Total Appointments Scheduled	Appointments Scheduled 30 Days or Less	Appointments Scheduled More than 30 Days
619A4	Tuskegee	15,798	14,542	1,256
619GF	Montgomery	15,513	14,812	701
619	Montgomery	11,124	9,841	1,283
619QB	Fort Benning	10,147	9,830	317
619GA	Columbus	9,639	9,158	481
619GD	Fort Rucker	6,519	5,883	636
619QA	Dothan	4,541	4,326	215
619GE	Monroeville	999	966	33

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration