NE Florida News

The James A. Haley VA Hospital in Tampa reported that eight patients newly enrolled in its benefits program requested appointments but had not received one during the period ending September 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

During that same time frame, the system scheduled 201,928 pending appointments across its 17 healthcare facilities.

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 or better to 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.

At a hearing before the House Veterans Affairs Committee after the report was released, Debra Draper, health care director at the GAO, said new patients may actually wait up to 70 days for an appointment when they first enroll for benefits.

The VA explains on its website that when veterans apply for benefits, they are assigned to 1 of 8 priority groups, with those who 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.

Location	Total Appointments Scheduled	Appointments Scheduled 30 Days or Less	Appointments Scheduled More than 30 Days
Tampa, FL (James A. Haley)	60,122	57,162	2,960
New Port Richey, FL	18,176	17,744	432
Lakeland, FL	13,394	13,280	114
Brooksville, FL	8,626	8,569	57
Zephyrhills, FL	3,356	3,330	26
South Hillsborough, FL	7,160	6,589	571
Forty Sixth Street North, FL	517	505	12
Forty Sixth Street South, FL	33,025	32,025	1,000
West Lakeland, FL	4,521	4,199	322
Deer Park, FL	1,967	1,191	776
Highway Nineteen, FL	3,211	2,802	409
Winners Circle, FL	16	16	0
Little Road, FL	1,224	1,195	29
Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, FL	9,038	8,936	102
Medical View Lane, FL	656	653	3
Hidden River, FL	35,104	33,584	1,520

Source: U.S. Veteran’s Administration