NW Missouri Times

The VA Eastern Kansas Health Care System, subsidiary 589GI in St. Joseph, Missouri, scheduled 2,612 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, 2,583 had a wait time of 30 days or less (98.9%) and 29 appointments (1.1%) 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
589A5	Topeka	22,042	20,037	2,005
589A6	Leavenworth	18,848	17,063	1,785
589GI	St. Joseph	2,612	2,583	29
589GR	Junction City	2,356	2,140	216
589GJ	Kansas City	1,143	1,127	16
589JE	Platte City	1,007	964	43
589GU	Lawrence	661	644	17
589GV	Fort Scott	520	516	4
589GM	Chanute	290	287	3
589GP	Garnett	147	143	4
589MA	Ft. Riley DES Clinic	4	4	0
589MD	IDES Fort Leavenworth	1	1	0

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration