Albany Standard

The Carl Vinson VA Medical Center, subsidiary 557GB in Albany, Georgia, scheduled 6,074 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, 5,790 had a wait time of 30 days or less (95.3%) and 284 appointments (4.7%) 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 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
557	Dublin	26,089	21,300	4,789
557GA	Macon	10,530	9,461	1,069
557GB	Albany	6,074	5,790	284
557HA	Perry	4,670	4,579	91
557GF	Tifton	3,620	3,481	139
557GE	Brunswick	3,279	3,047	232
557GC	Milledgeville	1,203	1,188	15

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration