The VA Central Alabama Health Care System ranked 66th among VA health care systems with 54,214 pending appointments across its 10 locations during the period ending Dec. 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 | 208,955 |
| 2 | North Florida/South Georgia VA HCS | 204,284 |
| 3 | VA Bay Pines HCS | 173,501 |
| 4 | Tennessee Valley HCS | 172,093 |
| 5 | James A. Haley VA Hospital | 170,488 |
| 6 | VA North Texas HCS | 170,432 |
| 7 | Louis Stokes Cleveland VAMC | 166,658 |
| 8 | VA Central Texas HCS | 162,574 |
| 9 | VA South Texas HCS | 160,076 |
| 10 | W. G. Hefner VA MC | 156,969 |
| 11 | Michael E. DeBakey VAMC | 156,052 |
| 12 | VA Atlanta HCS | 139,208 |
| 13 | VA Caribbean HCS | 125,041 |
| 14 | VA Phoenix HCS | 118,434 |
| 15 | VA Loma Linda HCS | 113,053 |
| 16 | VA Northern California HCS | 106,731 |
| 17 | Fayetteville VAMC | 106,244 |
| 18 | Hunter Holmes McGuire Richmond VAMC | 105,289 |
| 19 | VA Southern Nevada HCS | 101,175 |
| 20 | Wm. Jennings Bryan Dorn VAMC | 101,053 |
| 21 | Birmingham VAMC | 100,408 |
| 22 | Durham VAMC | 95,213 |
| 23 | VA Central Arkansas HCS | 94,943 |
| 24 | West Palm Beach VAMC | 94,787 |
| 25 | VA Miami HCS | 92,137 |
| 26 | Mountain Home VAMC | 92,131 |
| 27 | VA Greater Los Angeles HCS | 90,369 |
| 28 | Oklahoma City VAMC | 87,644 |
| 29 | Ralph H. Johnson VAMC | 85,984 |
| 30 | VA Long Beach HCS | 81,450 |
| 31 | VA Gulf Coast Veterans HCS | 80,690 |
| 32 | Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital | 78,307 |
| 33 | VA Minneapolis HCS | 77,896 |
| 34 | VA Southeast Louisiana HCS | 77,575 |
| 35 | Robley Rex VAMC | 76,797 |
| 36 | Milwaukee VAMC | 75,290 |
| 37 | VA Eastern Colorado HCS | 74,549 |
| 38 | VA Southern Arizona HCS | 74,213 |
| 39 | Harry S. Truman Memorial VA Hospital | 73,774 |
| 40 | VA Pittsburgh HCS | 70,685 |
| 41 | Memphis VAMC | 70,608 |
| 42 | Syracuse VAMC | 70,600 |
| 43 | Hampton VAMC | 70,193 |
| 44 | Kansas City VAMC | 69,486 |
| 45 | Salem VAMC | 67,621 |
| 46 | VA Boston HCS | 66,499 |
| 47 | Lebanon VAMC | 66,244 |
| 48 | VA San Diego HCS | 64,531 |
| 49 | VA New Mexico HCS | 63,680 |
| 50 | Richard L. Roudebush VAMC | 62,588 |
| 51 | VA of the Ozarks HCS | 60,002 |
| 52 | VA Connecticut HCS | 59,709 |
| 53 | VA Ann Arbor HCS | 59,211 |
| 54 | Philadelphia VAMC | 59,027 |
| 55 | VA Nebraska-Western Iowa HCS | 58,727 |
| 56 | Muskogee VAMC | 58,608 |
| 57 | John D. Dingell VAMC | 58,247 |
| 58 | Montgomery VAMC | 58,069 |
| 59 | Dayton VAMC | 57,487 |
| 60 | Carl Vinson VAMC | 57,224 |
| 61 | Providence VAMC | 56,266 |
| 62 | Cincinnati VAMC | 56,179 |
| 63 | Charlie Norwood VAMC | 55,848 |
| 64 | Overton Brooks VAMC | 55,592 |
| 65 | Portland VAMC | 55,541 |
| 66 | VA Central Alabama HCS | 54,214 |
| 67 | St. Louis, MO VAMC | 52,212 |
| 68 | VA Northern Indiana HCS | 51,355 |
| 69 | Chalmers P. Wylie Ambulatory VA HCS | 51,194 |
| 70 | VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend HCS | 50,745 |
| 71 | VA New Jersey HCS | 50,102 |
| 72 | VA Eastern Kansas HCS | 49,863 |
| 73 | VA Western New York at Buffalo HCS | 49,173 |
| 74 | Charles George VAMC | 49,167 |
| 75 | Battle Creek VAMC | 48,378 |
| 76 | Marion VAMC | 48,362 |
| 77 | Wilkes-Barre VAMC | 47,821 |
| 78 | VA Puget Sound HCS | 47,494 |
| 79 | Hershel ‘Woody’ Williams VAMC | 46,710 |
| 80 | Robert J. Dole VAMC | 44,307 |
| 81 | VA Maryland HCS | 43,784 |
| 82 | Jesse Brown VAMC | 43,351 |
| 83 | VA Salt Lake City HCS | 42,790 |
| 84 | VA Palo Alto HCS | 42,682 |
| 85 | Washington DC VAMC | 42,572 |
| 86 | VA Amarillo HCS | 42,339 |
| 87 | James E. Van Zandt Altoona VAMC | 41,710 |
| 88 | VA Iowa City HCS | 41,329 |
| 89 | VA Montana HCS | 41,180 |
| 90 | Albany Stratton VAMC | 41,025 |
| 91 | VA El Paso HCS | 40,724 |
| 92 | VA Maine HCS | 40,186 |
| 93 | VA Alexandria HCS | 38,219 |
| 94 | Martinsburg VAMC | 35,894 |
| 95 | San Francisco VAMC | 35,176 |
| 96 | VA St. Cloud HCS | 34,257 |
| 97 | VA Sierra Nevada HCS | 34,048 |
| 98 | Louis A. Johnson VAMC | 33,924 |
| 99 | VA NY Harbor HCS | 33,669 |
| 100 | Lexington VAMC | 33,511 |
| 101 | VA Pacific Islands HCS | 33,320 |
| 102 | Wilmington VAMC | 31,223 |
| 103 | VA Illiana HCS | 30,604 |
| 104 | Aleda E. Lutz VAMC | 29,939 |
| 105 | Chillicothe VAMC | 28,474 |
| 106 | Sioux Falls VAMC | 28,292 |
| 107 | Bath VAMC | 28,177 |
| 108 | Fargo VAMC | 27,951 |
| 109 | VA Central Iowa HCS | 27,722 |
| 110 | Roseburg VAMC | 27,237 |
| 111 | VA Central California HCS | 27,009 |
| 112 | Northport Affairs VAMC | 27,005 |
| 113 | Erie VAMC | 26,988 |
| 114 | Poplar Bluff VAMC | 25,697 |
| 115 | Madison VA Hospital | 24,936 |
| 116 | White River Junction VAMC | 24,895 |
| 117 | James J. Peters VAMC | 24,858 |
| 118 | Boise VAMC | 24,711 |
| 119 | Tomah VAMC | 23,849 |
| 120 | VA Central Western Massachusetts HCS | 23,699 |
| 121 | VA Butler HCS | 23,652 |
| 122 | Manchester VAMC | 22,981 |
| 123 | James A. Lovell Federal HCS | 22,383 |
| 124 | Beckley VAMC | 21,653 |
| 125 | VA Northern Arizona HCS | 21,008 |
| 126 | Tuscaloosa VAMC | 18,729 |
| 127 | VA Black Hills HCS | 17,433 |
| 128 | VA Hudson Valley HCS | 16,126 |
| 129 | Coatesville VAMC | 14,451 |
| 130 | VA West Texas HCS | 13,800 |
| 131 | Cheyenne VAMC | 12,979 |
| 132 | Oscar G. Johnson VAMC | 12,595 |
| 133 | Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VAMC | 12,218 |
| 134 | Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial VA Hospital | 10,947 |
| 135 | Grand Junction VAMC | 9,376 |
| 136 | Sheridan VAMC | 6,277 |
| 137 | VA Alaska HCS | 5,733 |
| 138 | Southern Oregon HCS | 4,824 |
| 139 | Spokane VAMC | 3,665 |
Source: U.S. Veteran’s Administration
