Akron Reporter

The Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, subsidiary 541GG in Akron, Ohio scheduled 16,309 pending appointments during the period ending May 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 13,922 had a wait time of 30 days or less (85.4%) and 2,387 appointments (14.6%) 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
541	Cleveland	42,386	38,981	3,405
541GL	Parma	20,631	17,770	2,861
541GG	Akron	16,309	13,922	2,387
541BY	Canton	13,376	12,873	503
541BZ	Youngstown	9,967	9,732	235
541GD	Mansfield	9,842	9,774	68
541GB	Lorain	9,462	9,159	303
541GF	Willoughby	9,269	8,638	631
541GC	Sandusky	6,373	5,319	1,054
541GJ	New Philadelphia	4,357	4,056	301
541GH	East Liverpool	4,106	3,666	440
541GK	Ravenna	3,931	3,634	297
541GI	Warren	2,885	2,670	215
541GE	Cleveland	853	833	20
541QB	Cleveland	764	761	3
541QF	Cuyahoga County 4	271	101	170

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration