Treasure Coast Sun

The West Palm Beach VA Medical Center, subsidiary 548GE in Vero Beach, Florida scheduled 4,164 pending appointments during the period ending January 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 4,149 had a wait time of 30 days or less (99.6%) and 15 appointments (0.4%) 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 who 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
548	West Palm Beach	90,183	84,945	5,238
548GC	Stuart	6,710	6,693	17
548GB	Delray Beach	6,558	6,428	130
548GA	Fort Pierce	5,776	5,702	74
548GE	Vero Beach	4,164	4,149	15
548GD	Boca Raton	3,880	3,867	13
548GF	Okeechobee	2,023	2,010	13
548QA	Port Saint Lucie	967	920	47

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration