Luzerne Times

The Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center ranked 68th among VA health care systems with 73,373 pending appointments across its eight locations during the period ending March 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	268,673
2	Orlando VAMC	248,377
3	VA Atlanta HCS	219,037
4	James A. Haley VA Hospital	217,301
5	VA North Texas HCS	210,259
6	W. G. Hefner VA MC	209,567
7	Michael E. DeBakey VAMC	206,343
8	VA Bay Pines HCS	205,760
9	VA Central Texas HCS	205,238
10	Louis Stokes Cleveland VAMC	201,917
11	Tennessee Valley HCS	198,886
12	VA South Texas HCS	194,353
13	Wm. Jennings Bryan Dorn VAMC	163,523
14	VA Caribbean HCS	160,773
15	VA Loma Linda HCS	151,700
16	VA Phoenix HCS	149,573
17	Fayetteville VAMC	144,769
18	Durham VAMC	142,758
19	Hunter Holmes McGuire Richmond VAMC	140,525
20	VA Northern California HCS	132,908
21	VA Southern Nevada HCS	131,164
22	VA Central Arkansas HCS	127,554
23	Ralph H. Johnson VAMC	124,672
24	VA Greater Los Angeles HCS	123,885
25	Birmingham VAMC	123,094
26	West Palm Beach VAMC	122,531
27	VA Gulf Coast Veterans HCS	120,157
28	VA Minneapolis HCS	118,343
29	Oklahoma City VAMC	118,169
30	Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital	117,130
31	St. Louis, MO VAMC	114,098
32	VA Miami HCS	112,729
33	VA Eastern Colorado HCS	108,454
34	VA Southeast Louisiana HCS	108,389
35	VA Pittsburgh HCS	108,239
36	Mountain Home VAMC	106,229
37	Milwaukee VAMC	105,146
38	VA Long Beach HCS	104,013
39	Philadelphia VAMC	102,437
40	VA New Jersey HCS	100,697
41	Hampton VAMC	99,700
42	VA San Diego HCS	99,100
43	Portland VAMC	99,028
44	VA Southern Arizona HCS	98,325
45	VA Boston HCS	98,205
46	Syracuse VAMC	95,930
47	VA Connecticut HCS	95,299
48	Chalmers P. Wylie Ambulatory VA HCS	95,232
49	Charles George VAMC	94,205
50	Robley Rex VAMC	90,677
51	Lebanon VAMC	90,280
52	VA Ann Arbor HCS	89,370
53	VA New Mexico HCS	89,319
54	Memphis VAMC	88,961
55	VA Puget Sound HCS	84,869
56	Cincinnati VAMC	83,967
57	John D. Dingell VAMC	83,877
58	Harry S. Truman Memorial VA Hospital	83,671
59	Richard L. Roudebush VAMC	82,687
60	Salem VAMC	81,833
61	Kansas City VAMC	81,125
62	Charlie Norwood VAMC	79,289
63	Providence VAMC	78,911
64	VA Western New York at Buffalo HCS	75,876
65	VA Salt Lake City HCS	75,463
66	VA of the Ozarks HCS	75,331
67	VA Central Alabama HCS	74,457
68	Wilkes-Barre VAMC	73,373
69	VA Nebraska-Western Iowa HCS	71,905
70	Dayton VAMC	71,820
71	VA Maryland HCS	71,513
72	Washington DC VAMC	71,309
73	Carl Vinson VAMC	70,788
74	VA Northern Indiana HCS	70,247
75	Jesse Brown VAMC	70,176
76	Montgomery VAMC	70,079
77	Muskogee VAMC	69,136
78	Overton Brooks VAMC	68,133
79	VA Maine HCS	67,187
80	Martinsburg VAMC	62,128
81	Battle Creek VAMC	61,359
82	VA El Paso HCS	61,346
83	VA Eastern Kansas HCS	61,238
84	VA NY Harbor HCS	60,478
85	VA Palo Alto HCS	60,437
86	VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend HCS	58,777
87	San Francisco VAMC	58,706
88	Marion VAMC	58,182
89	Hershel 'Woody' Williams VAMC	57,995
90	Albany Stratton VAMC	57,293
91	Northport Affairs VAMC	56,648
92	VA Iowa City HCS	55,955
93	Bath VAMC	53,252
94	Wilmington VAMC	52,500
95	VA Alexandria HCS	52,001
96	VA Montana HCS	51,559
97	Robert J. Dole VAMC	51,494
98	VA Amarillo HCS	49,657
99	VA St. Cloud HCS	49,538
100	VA Central Western Massachusetts HCS	48,990
101	Aleda E. Lutz VAMC	48,498
102	VA Pacific Islands HCS	47,713
103	Manchester VAMC	45,636
104	Louis A. Johnson VAMC	45,282
105	VA Central California HCS	44,797
106	James E. Van Zandt Altoona VAMC	44,713
107	White River Junction VAMC	44,286
108	VA Sierra Nevada HCS	44,138
109	Madison VA Hospital	43,747
110	Lexington VAMC	43,440
111	James J. Peters VAMC	41,835
112	Sioux Falls VAMC	38,922
113	Chillicothe VAMC	38,326
114	VA Hudson Valley HCS	37,611
115	Roseburg VAMC	37,459
116	Fargo VAMC	37,350
117	VA Illiana HCS	36,974
118	Erie VAMC	36,956
119	Boise VAMC	36,167
120	James A. Lovell Federal HCS	36,140
121	VA Central Iowa HCS	32,383
122	Poplar Bluff VAMC	31,752
123	Tomah VAMC	30,880
124	VA Northern Arizona HCS	29,699
125	Beckley VAMC	27,295
126	Spokane VAMC	26,287
127	VA Butler HCS	26,069
128	Coatesville VAMC	24,687
129	Cheyenne VAMC	22,525
130	Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial VA Hospital	21,867
131	VA West Texas HCS	20,967
132	Tuscaloosa VAMC	20,738
133	VA Black Hills HCS	19,621
134	Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VAMC	18,702
135	Grand Junction VAMC	15,499
136	Oscar G. Johnson VAMC	14,580
137	Southern Oregon HCS	10,081
138	Sheridan VAMC	9,866
139	VA Alaska HCS	8,609

Source: U.S. Veteran’s Administration