Nola Reporter

The VA Southeast Louisiana Health Care System ranked 39th among VA health care systems with 76,730 pending appointments across its nine locations during the period ending June 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	Orlando VAMC	198,949
2	North Florida/South Georgia VA HCS	180,165
3	VA Bay Pines HCS	172,363
4	Tennessee Valley HCS	171,601
5	VA North Texas HCS	169,347
6	VA Central Texas HCS	169,162
7	W. G. Hefner VA MC	168,842
8	Michael E. DeBakey VAMC	168,025
9	VA Atlanta HCS	167,537
10	James A. Haley VA Hospital	167,446
11	VA South Texas HCS	159,280
12	Louis Stokes Cleveland VAMC	149,520
13	VA Caribbean HCS	131,970
14	Wm. Jennings Bryan Dorn VAMC	125,129
15	Durham VAMC	120,720
16	VA Phoenix HCS	120,146
17	VA Loma Linda HCS	117,824
18	Hunter Holmes McGuire Richmond VAMC	117,202
19	Birmingham VAMC	105,464
20	West Palm Beach VAMC	104,557
21	Fayetteville VAMC	102,738
22	VA Central Arkansas HCS	102,081
23	VA Northern California HCS	100,548
24	VA Gulf Coast Veterans HCS	98,193
25	Ralph H. Johnson VAMC	94,042
26	VA Southern Nevada HCS	93,873
27	VA Greater Los Angeles HCS	93,497
28	Mountain Home VAMC	92,716
29	VA Miami HCS	90,993
30	Milwaukee VAMC	90,119
31	Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital	86,362
32	Oklahoma City VAMC	84,631
33	VA Minneapolis HCS	84,260
34	VA Southern Arizona HCS	81,234
35	Hampton VAMC	80,985
36	Philadelphia VAMC	80,216
37	VA Eastern Colorado HCS	79,335
38	Syracuse VAMC	77,080
39	VA Southeast Louisiana HCS	76,730
40	Memphis VAMC	76,354
41	VA Long Beach HCS	73,493
42	Lebanon VAMC	73,253
43	Kansas City VAMC	71,971
44	Robley Rex VAMC	71,913
45	VA New Mexico HCS	70,726
46	Salem VAMC	69,996
47	Charles George VAMC	69,520
48	Harry S. Truman Memorial VA Hospital	69,246
49	VA Boston HCS	69,086
50	VA Pittsburgh HCS	68,542
51	VA San Diego HCS	68,220
52	VA Connecticut HCS	66,902
53	VA of the Ozarks HCS	66,694
54	VA Ann Arbor HCS	62,766
55	Providence VAMC	62,634
56	VA New Jersey HCS	62,389
57	Portland VAMC	62,168
58	Overton Brooks VAMC	61,502
59	John D. Dingell VAMC	61,421
60	Charlie Norwood VAMC	61,145
61	Muskogee VAMC	60,936
62	Richard L. Roudebush VAMC	60,842
63	Montgomery VAMC	60,272
64	VA Central Alabama HCS	59,759
65	Cincinnati VAMC	59,588
66	St. Louis, MO VAMC	59,150
67	VA Northern Indiana HCS	58,762
68	Carl Vinson VAMC	56,334
69	VA Western New York at Buffalo HCS	56,135
70	Chalmers P. Wylie Ambulatory VA HCS	56,093
71	VA Salt Lake City HCS	56,049
72	Wilkes-Barre VAMC	53,044
73	Dayton VAMC	53,030
74	Marion VAMC	50,386
75	VA Eastern Kansas HCS	50,309
76	VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend HCS	49,329
77	VA Puget Sound HCS	49,055
78	Battle Creek VAMC	48,315
79	VA El Paso HCS	47,223
80	VA Nebraska-Western Iowa HCS	47,025
81	VA Iowa City HCS	46,585
82	Hershel 'Woody' Williams VAMC	46,215
83	Albany Stratton VAMC	43,932
84	VA Maine HCS	43,332
85	VA Maryland HCS	43,244
86	VA Alexandria HCS	43,204
87	VA Montana HCS	42,528
88	Robert J. Dole VAMC	42,447
89	VA Amarillo HCS	42,314
90	Jesse Brown VAMC	40,276
91	James E. Van Zandt Altoona VAMC	40,048
92	Wilmington VAMC	39,480
93	VA Pacific Islands HCS	39,172
94	Martinsburg VAMC	38,350
95	San Francisco VAMC	35,420
96	Louis A. Johnson VAMC	35,032
97	VA St. Cloud HCS	34,485
98	Northport Affairs VAMC	34,447
99	VA Sierra Nevada HCS	34,334
100	Washington DC VAMC	34,333
101	Aleda E. Lutz VAMC	33,227
102	Bath VAMC	32,007
103	Manchester VAMC	31,909
104	White River Junction VAMC	30,830
105	VA Central California HCS	30,674
106	VA Illiana HCS	30,501
107	VA Central Western Massachusetts HCS	29,806
108	Chillicothe VAMC	28,818
109	Roseburg VAMC	28,710
110	Madison VA Hospital	28,582
111	Poplar Bluff VAMC	27,326
112	VA Palo Alto HCS	27,115
113	Erie VAMC	27,112
114	Tomah VAMC	27,088
115	Boise VAMC	26,313
116	VA NY Harbor HCS	26,100
117	Lexington VAMC	25,730
118	James J. Peters VAMC	24,750
119	Fargo VAMC	23,735
120	VA Northern Arizona HCS	23,598
121	VA Butler HCS	23,313
122	Sioux Falls VAMC	22,694
123	James A. Lovell Federal HCS	22,485
124	Beckley VAMC	21,307
125	VA Central Iowa HCS	20,503
126	Coatesville VAMC	18,334
127	Tuscaloosa VAMC	18,172
128	VA Hudson Valley HCS	17,740
129	VA Black Hills HCS	16,419
130	Spokane VAMC	15,453
131	VA West Texas HCS	14,918
132	Cheyenne VAMC	13,941
133	Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VAMC	12,675
134	Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial VA Hospital	10,870
135	Grand Junction VAMC	9,847
136	Oscar G. Johnson VAMC	9,333
137	Sheridan VAMC	6,877
138	Southern Oregon HCS	5,367
139	VA Alaska HCS	3,471

Source: U.S. Veteran’s Administration