South Iowa News

The VA Iowa City Health Care System, subsidiary 636GS in Ottumwa, Iowa scheduled 2,549 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, 2,535 had a wait time of 30 days or less (99.5%) and 14 appointments (0.6%) 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 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	20,602	18,238	2,364
636GF	Davenport	8,319	7,900	419
636GW	Coralville	3,641	3,537	104
636GN	Cedar Rapids	3,601	3,514	87
636QJ	Iowa City	3,410	2,998	412
636GH	Waterloo	2,799	2,708	91
636GG	Quincy	2,580	2,512	68
636GS	Ottumwa	2,549	2,535	14
636GI	Galesburg	2,348	2,280	68
636GJ	Dubuque	2,117	2,052	65
636GT	Sterling	944	879	65
636GU	Decorah	855	840	15
636QG	Iowa City	276	160	116
636QI	Davenport	247	240	7
636QC	Cedar Rapids	81	77	4

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration