South Iowa News

The VA Iowa City Health Care System, subsidiary 636GS in Ottumwa, Iowa scheduled 2,579 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, 2,562 had a wait time of 30 days or less (99.3%) and 17 appointments (0.7%) 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
636A8	Iowa City	21,115	18,686	2,429
636GF	Davenport	8,749	8,311	438
636GW	Coralville	3,546	3,445	101
636QJ	Iowa City	3,532	3,098	434
636GN	Cedar Rapids	3,521	3,428	93
636GH	Waterloo	2,980	2,870	110
636GG	Quincy	2,815	2,736	79
636GS	Ottumwa	2,579	2,562	17
636GI	Galesburg	2,396	2,335	61
636GJ	Dubuque	2,176	2,103	73
636GT	Sterling	963	893	70
636GU	Decorah	903	872	31
636QG	Iowa City	320	185	135
636QI	Davenport	283	280	3
636QC	Cedar Rapids	77	75	2

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration