Akron Reporter

The Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center in Cleveland reported that 20 patients newly enrolled in its benefits program requested an appointments but had not received one during the period ending December 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

During that same time frame, the system scheduled 166,658 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)	52,123	46,522	5,601
Canton, OH	11,984	11,475	509
Youngstown, OH	10,906	10,097	809
Lorain, OH	10,089	9,587	502
Sandusky, OH	6,224	5,555	669
Mansfield, OH (David F. Winder)	10,221	10,036	185
Lake County, OH	7,853	7,404	449
Akron, OH	19,275	17,469	1,806
East Liverpool, OH	3,864	3,759	105
Warren, OH	4,466	4,206	260
New Philadelphia, OH	3,748	3,588	160
Ravenna, OH	3,571	3,434	137
Parma, OH	21,318	18,801	2,517
Cleveland Superior Avenue, OH	79	70	9
Cleveland Euclid Avenue, OH	420	416	4
Cuyahoga County 4, OH - Mobile	229	177	52

Source: U.S. Veteran’s Administration