North Country Leader

The Syracuse VA Medical Center, subsidiary 528GO in Watertown, New York, scheduled 5,032 pending appointments during the period ending August 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 4,972 had a wait time of 30 days or less (98.8%) and 60 appointments (1.2%) 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
528A7	Syracuse	36,453	32,310	4,143
528GM	Rome	8,398	7,657	741
528GN	Binghamton	5,728	5,103	625
528GO	Watertown	5,032	4,972	60
528QG	Erie West	3,146	2,970	176
528QN	Watertown	2,984	2,765	219
528GL	Massena	2,562	2,474	88
528GP	Oswego	2,184	2,176	8
528G9	Freeville	1,828	1,815	13
528QI	Erie East	1,711	1,251	460
528G5	Auburn	1,650	1,561	89
528QH	South Salina	99	99	0

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration