South Iowa News

The VA Iowa City Health Care System, subsidiary 636GS in Ottumwa, Iowa, scheduled 2,005 pending appointments during the period ending October 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 1,981 had a wait time of 30 days or less (98.8%) and 24 appointments (1.2%) 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
636A8	Iowa City	16,295	13,195	3,100
636GF	Davenport	7,020	6,601	419
636GN	Cedar Rapids	2,349	2,224	125
636GG	Quincy	2,305	2,222	83
636GW	Coralville	2,187	2,123	64
636GS	Ottumwa	2,005	1,981	24
636QJ	Iowa City	1,947	1,493	454
636GH	Waterloo	1,796	1,713	83
636GJ	Dubuque	1,615	1,404	211
636GI	Galesburg	1,443	1,401	42
636GT	Sterling	722	658	64
636GU	Decorah	633	571	62
636QI	Davenport	227	226	1
636QG	Iowa City	70	51	19
636QC	Cedar Rapids	22	22	0

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration