Far West Texas News

The VA West Texas Health Care System in Big Spring ranked 131st among VA health care systems with 17,418 pending appointments across its six locations during the period ending April 1, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in January 2019 reported 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 cautioning 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.

Debra Draper, health care director at the GAO, told the House Veterans Affairs Committee new patients may actually wait up to 70 days for an appointment when they first enroll for benefits.

The VA explains that when veterans apply for benefits, they are assigned to one of eight priority groups, with those 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.

Rank	Health Care System	Total Pending Appointments Scheduled
1	North Florida/South Georgia VA HCS	223,427
2	Orlando VAMC	222,410
3	W. G. Hefner VA MC	188,315
4	James A. Haley VA Hospital	186,532
5	Tennessee Valley HCS	181,752
6	VA Central Texas HCS	180,538
7	VA Bay Pines HCS	180,109
8	VA North Texas HCS	179,667
9	VA Atlanta HCS	178,524
10	Michael E. DeBakey VAMC	175,407
11	VA South Texas HCS	169,544
12	Louis Stokes Cleveland VAMC	167,840
13	VA Caribbean HCS	142,664
14	Wm. Jennings Bryan Dorn VAMC	141,389
15	VA Loma Linda HCS	133,544
16	Durham VAMC	126,763
17	Fayetteville VAMC	124,443
18	VA Phoenix HCS	122,936
19	Hunter Holmes McGuire Richmond VAMC	121,915
20	VA Central Arkansas HCS	112,183
21	Birmingham VAMC	110,401
22	VA Northern California HCS	108,619
23	VA Gulf Coast Veterans HCS	108,017
24	Ralph H. Johnson VAMC	107,406
25	West Palm Beach VAMC	107,244
26	VA Greater Los Angeles HCS	105,286
27	VA Southern Nevada HCS	103,902
28	Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital	99,885
29	Mountain Home VAMC	98,646
30	Oklahoma City VAMC	96,318
31	VA Minneapolis HCS	94,352
32	VA Miami HCS	92,086
33	VA Eastern Colorado HCS	90,091
34	VA Pittsburgh HCS	89,953
35	Milwaukee VAMC	89,946
36	VA Southeast Louisiana HCS	88,935
37	Philadelphia VAMC	87,272
38	Hampton VAMC	86,856
39	Charles George VAMC	84,653
40	St. Louis, MO VAMC	84,425
41	Syracuse VAMC	83,312
42	Memphis VAMC	81,470
43	Robley Rex VAMC	80,712
44	Lebanon VAMC	79,557
45	VA Southern Arizona HCS	78,868
46	VA Long Beach HCS	78,760
47	VA Connecticut HCS	78,565
48	VA Boston HCS	78,467
49	VA San Diego HCS	78,130
50	VA New Mexico HCS	76,725
51	Chalmers P. Wylie Ambulatory VA HCS	76,036
52	VA New Jersey HCS	74,936
53	Kansas City VAMC	74,397
54	VA Ann Arbor HCS	72,154
55	Richard L. Roudebush VAMC	71,904
56	Salem VAMC	71,407
57	Harry S. Truman Memorial VA Hospital	70,821
58	Portland VAMC	70,200
59	Providence VAMC	69,422
60	Charlie Norwood VAMC	69,054
61	VA of the Ozarks HCS	68,963
62	John D. Dingell VAMC	68,298
63	Cincinnati VAMC	68,185
64	VA Central Alabama HCS	65,478
65	VA Western New York at Buffalo HCS	65,126
66	Montgomery VAMC	63,562
67	Muskogee VAMC	63,126
68	VA Northern Indiana HCS	62,727
69	Overton Brooks VAMC	62,065
70	Carl Vinson VAMC	61,726
71	Wilkes-Barre VAMC	61,464
72	VA Puget Sound HCS	61,166
73	Dayton VAMC	60,183
74	VA Salt Lake City HCS	57,067
75	Jesse Brown VAMC	54,833
76	VA Nebraska-Western Iowa HCS	54,807
77	VA El Paso HCS	53,676
78	Battle Creek VAMC	53,182
79	Marion VAMC	52,658
80	VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend HCS	52,218
81	VA Maine HCS	52,001
82	Washington DC VAMC	51,937
83	VA Eastern Kansas HCS	50,420
84	Hershel 'Woody' Williams VAMC	50,206
85	VA Maryland HCS	49,667
86	Albany Stratton VAMC	49,552
87	Martinsburg VAMC	48,100
88	VA Iowa City HCS	47,971
89	VA Alexandria HCS	46,340
90	VA Amarillo HCS	45,752
91	VA Montana HCS	45,285
92	Robert J. Dole VAMC	45,223
93	Northport Affairs VAMC	44,451
94	San Francisco VAMC	43,707
95	Bath VAMC	43,057
96	Wilmington VAMC	42,667
97	James E. Van Zandt Altoona VAMC	41,545
98	VA Pacific Islands HCS	39,921
99	Aleda E. Lutz VAMC	39,443
100	VA Central Western Massachusetts HCS	39,364
101	Louis A. Johnson VAMC	39,196
102	VA Sierra Nevada HCS	37,663
103	Manchester VAMC	37,527
104	VA St. Cloud HCS	37,249
105	VA Palo Alto HCS	37,044
106	White River Junction VAMC	36,081
107	VA Central California HCS	35,252
108	Lexington VAMC	34,703
109	Sioux Falls VAMC	33,819
110	James J. Peters VAMC	33,584
111	VA NY Harbor HCS	32,821
112	VA Illiana HCS	32,691
113	Madison VA Hospital	32,634
114	Fargo VAMC	32,009
115	Erie VAMC	31,316
116	Chillicothe VAMC	30,131
117	Roseburg VAMC	30,085
118	James A. Lovell Federal HCS	29,100
119	Boise VAMC	28,819
120	VA Central Iowa HCS	27,134
121	Poplar Bluff VAMC	26,815
122	VA Hudson Valley HCS	26,663
123	Tomah VAMC	25,885
124	VA Northern Arizona HCS	24,560
125	Beckley VAMC	23,717
126	VA Butler HCS	23,438
127	Coatesville VAMC	21,420
128	Tuscaloosa VAMC	18,913
129	Spokane VAMC	18,726
130	Cheyenne VAMC	17,691
131	VA West Texas HCS	17,418
132	VA Black Hills HCS	16,080
133	Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial VA Hospital	15,907
134	Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VAMC	15,818
135	Grand Junction VAMC	10,781
136	Oscar G. Johnson VAMC	10,507
137	Sheridan VAMC	8,406
138	Southern Oregon HCS	6,896
139	VA Alaska HCS	5,001

Source: U.S. Veteran’s Administration