Northern Tier News

The Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center ranked 69th among VA health care systems with 69,681 pending appointments across its eight locations during the period ending Jan. 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	266,735
2	Orlando VAMC	239,660
3	VA Atlanta HCS	217,846
4	James A. Haley VA Hospital	215,100
5	VA Bay Pines HCS	205,197
6	W. G. Hefner VA MC	202,111
7	VA Central Texas HCS	201,910
8	VA North Texas HCS	200,944
9	Michael E. DeBakey VAMC	199,977
10	Louis Stokes Cleveland VAMC	197,625
11	Tennessee Valley HCS	195,986
12	VA South Texas HCS	185,008
13	VA Caribbean HCS	159,335
14	Wm. Jennings Bryan Dorn VAMC	157,755
15	VA Loma Linda HCS	147,557
16	VA Phoenix HCS	146,661
17	Durham VAMC	139,921
18	Hunter Holmes McGuire Richmond VAMC	138,385
19	Fayetteville VAMC	133,879
20	VA Northern California HCS	127,757
21	VA Southern Nevada HCS	126,895
22	VA Central Arkansas HCS	123,850
23	Ralph H. Johnson VAMC	122,442
24	Birmingham VAMC	122,113
25	West Palm Beach VAMC	120,261
26	VA Gulf Coast Veterans HCS	118,937
27	VA Greater Los Angeles HCS	118,799
28	Oklahoma City VAMC	115,670
29	Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital	113,828
30	VA Minneapolis HCS	112,713
31	St. Louis, MO VAMC	110,985
32	VA Miami HCS	109,943
33	VA Pittsburgh HCS	106,970
34	VA Southeast Louisiana HCS	106,373
35	VA Eastern Colorado HCS	104,762
36	Milwaukee VAMC	104,642
37	Mountain Home VAMC	104,185
38	VA Long Beach HCS	102,456
39	Philadelphia VAMC	99,644
40	VA New Jersey HCS	99,089
41	VA Southern Arizona HCS	97,010
42	VA San Diego HCS	96,302
43	VA Boston HCS	95,698
44	Hampton VAMC	94,263
45	Portland VAMC	93,220
46	Chalmers P. Wylie Ambulatory VA HCS	93,036
47	Charles George VAMC	92,742
48	Syracuse VAMC	91,970
49	VA Connecticut HCS	91,922
50	Robley Rex VAMC	88,329
51	VA New Mexico HCS	87,689
52	Lebanon VAMC	86,864
53	Memphis VAMC	86,620
54	VA Ann Arbor HCS	86,305
55	Cincinnati VAMC	81,830
56	Harry S. Truman Memorial VA Hospital	81,810
57	John D. Dingell VAMC	81,365
58	Salem VAMC	80,617
59	Richard L. Roudebush VAMC	79,774
60	Charlie Norwood VAMC	77,132
61	VA Puget Sound HCS	76,652
62	Kansas City VAMC	75,562
63	Providence VAMC	75,392
64	VA Western New York at Buffalo HCS	74,495
65	VA Central Alabama HCS	74,323
66	VA Salt Lake City HCS	71,894
67	VA of the Ozarks HCS	71,535
68	Montgomery VAMC	69,712
69	Wilkes-Barre VAMC	69,681
70	VA Nebraska-Western Iowa HCS	69,414
71	Dayton VAMC	69,408
72	Carl Vinson VAMC	69,277
73	VA Northern Indiana HCS	67,995
74	Overton Brooks VAMC	67,830
75	Jesse Brown VAMC	67,390
76	VA Maryland HCS	66,393
77	Washington DC VAMC	66,096
78	Muskogee VAMC	65,743
79	VA Maine HCS	63,181
80	VA El Paso HCS	60,028
81	Martinsburg VAMC	58,925
82	Battle Creek VAMC	58,629
83	VA Eastern Kansas HCS	57,547
84	Marion VAMC	57,065
85	Hershel 'Woody' Williams VAMC	57,058
86	VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend HCS	56,643
87	VA NY Harbor HCS	56,393
88	San Francisco VAMC	55,244
89	Albany Stratton VAMC	55,242
90	VA Palo Alto HCS	54,622
91	Northport Affairs VAMC	53,604
92	VA Iowa City HCS	53,172
93	VA Alexandria HCS	51,986
94	Bath VAMC	51,355
95	Wilmington VAMC	50,860
96	VA Montana HCS	50,557
97	Robert J. Dole VAMC	50,363
98	VA Amarillo HCS	48,776
99	Louis A. Johnson VAMC	48,619
100	VA St. Cloud HCS	47,985
101	VA Central Western Massachusetts HCS	47,459
102	VA Pacific Islands HCS	46,656
103	Aleda E. Lutz VAMC	46,365
104	James E. Van Zandt Altoona VAMC	43,059
105	Madison VA Hospital	43,003
106	Manchester VAMC	42,817
107	VA Central California HCS	42,615
108	White River Junction VAMC	42,572
109	Lexington VAMC	42,161
110	VA Sierra Nevada HCS	41,407
111	James J. Peters VAMC	40,215
112	Sioux Falls VAMC	37,314
113	Roseburg VAMC	37,179
114	Chillicothe VAMC	36,191
115	VA Illiana HCS	35,653
116	Erie VAMC	35,465
117	Fargo VAMC	34,426
118	James A. Lovell Federal HCS	34,277
119	Boise VAMC	34,039
120	VA Hudson Valley HCS	33,307
121	VA Central Iowa HCS	31,143
122	Poplar Bluff VAMC	29,896
123	Tomah VAMC	29,306
124	VA Northern Arizona HCS	27,739
125	Beckley VAMC	26,001
126	VA Butler HCS	25,562
127	Spokane VAMC	24,381
128	Coatesville VAMC	23,658
129	Cheyenne VAMC	21,487
130	VA West Texas HCS	21,136
131	Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial VA Hospital	20,925
132	Tuscaloosa VAMC	20,232
133	VA Black Hills HCS	19,089
134	Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VAMC	17,468
135	Grand Junction VAMC	14,989
136	Oscar G. Johnson VAMC	13,845
137	Southern Oregon HCS	10,140
138	Sheridan VAMC	9,663
139	VA Alaska HCS	7,893

Source: U.S. Veteran’s Administration