Akron Reporter

The Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center in Cleveland reported that 40 patients newly enrolled in its benefits program requested appointments but had not received one during the period ending May 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

During that same time frame, the system scheduled 155,008 pending appointments across its 18 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
Cleveland, OH (Louis Stokes Cleveland)	42,386	38,981	3,405
Canton, OH	13,376	12,873	503
Youngstown, OH	9,967	9,732	235
Lorain, OH	9,462	9,159	303
Sandusky, OH	6,373	5,319	1,054
Mansfield, OH (David F. Winder)	9,842	9,774	68
McCafferty, OH	853	833	20
Lake County, OH	9,269	8,638	631
Akron, OH	16,309	13,922	2,387
East Liverpool, OH	4,106	3,666	440
Warren, OH	2,885	2,670	215
New Philadelphia, OH	4,357	4,056	301
Ravenna, OH	3,931	3,634	297
Parma, OH	20,631	17,770	2,861
Cleveland Euclid Avenue, OH	764	761	3
Cuyahoga County 4, OH - Mobile	271	101	170

Source: U.S. Veteran’s Administration