South Alabama Times

The VA Central Alabama Health Care System, subsidiary 619GE in Monroeville, Alabama scheduled 979 pending appointments during the period ending March 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 951 had a wait time of 30 days or less (97.1%) and 28 appointments (2.9%) 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
619GF	Montgomery	15,766	14,995	771
619A4	Tuskegee	15,173	14,010	1,163
619	Montgomery	11,316	10,103	1,213
619QB	Fort Benning	10,438	10,103	335
619GA	Columbus	9,489	9,090	399
619GD	Fort Rucker	6,620	6,020	600
619QA	Dothan	4,675	4,465	210
619GE	Monroeville	979	951	28
619PA	Tuskegee	1	1	0

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration