South Ohio News

The Chillicothe VA Medical Center, subsidiary 538GE in Cambridge, Ohio scheduled 2,472 pending appointments during the period ending February 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 2,354 had a wait time of 30 days or less (95.2%) and 118 appointments (4.8%) 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
538	Chillicothe	21,485	20,517	968
538GB	Portsmouth	4,263	4,153	110
538GD	Lancaster	3,558	3,499	59
538GA	Athens	3,221	3,210	11
538GE	Cambridge	2,472	2,354	118
538GC	Marietta	2,075	1,926	149
538GF	Wilmington	583	558	25

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration