South Ohio News

The Cincinnati VA Medical Center, subsidiary 539GF in Georgetown, Ohio scheduled 1,843 pending appointments during the period ending March 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 1,806 had a wait time of 30 days or less (98%) and 37 appointments (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 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
539	Cincinnati	44,749	40,866	3,883
539GB	Cincinnati	7,520	7,376	144
539QB	Cincinnati	6,844	6,614	230
539GD	Florence	6,462	6,370	92
539GE	Hamilton	5,940	5,812	128
539GC	Greendale	5,564	5,516	48
539GA	Bellevue	3,021	2,960	61
539GF	Georgetown	1,843	1,806	37
539A4	Fort Thomas	1,159	1,096	63
539QD	Norwood	852	821	31
5399AB	Fort Thomas CLC	11	11	0
539BV	Fort Thomas	1	1	0

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration