Montgomery News

The Washington DC VA Medical Center, subsidiary 688GF in Gaithersburg, Maryland, scheduled 746 pending appointments during the period ending July 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 719 had a wait time of 30 days or less (96.4%) and 27 appointments (3.6%) 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 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
688	Washington	25,152	23,212	1,940
688GA	Fort Belvoir	2,096	2,070	26
688GE	Camp Springs	1,903	1,884	19
688GD	Charlotte Hall	1,132	1,126	6
688GF	Gaithersburg	746	719	27
688GB	Southeast Washington	325	324	1
688QA	Washington	2	2	0

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration