Hill Country Chronicle

VA South Texas Health Care System in San Antonio scheduled 160,002 pending appointments across its sixteen locations in November compared to 155,709 the previous month, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 145,114 had a wait time of 30 days or less (90.7%) and 14,888 appointments (9.3%) were scheduled more than 30 days out.

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 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 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 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.

Location	Total Appointments Scheduled in November	Total Appointments Scheduled in October	Percent change in number of appointments
San Antonio, TX (Audie L. Murphy)	57,602	56,155	2.6%
Kerrville, TX	12,652	12,042	5.1%
San Antonio, TX - VADOM	84	125	-32.8%
San Antonio Eckert Road, TX (Frank M. Tejeda)	16,106	15,649	2.9%
Victoria, TX	2,471	2,593	-4.7%
South Bexar County, TX	4,520	4,448	1.6%
Beeville, TX	343	265	29.4%
San Antonio Woodcock Drive, TX	14,904	14,798	0.7%
New Braunfels, TX	5,531	5,633	-1.8%
Seguin, TX	1,219	1,196	1.9%
North Central Federal, TX	11,419	11,182	2.1%
Balcones Heights, TX	9,483	8,021	18.2%
Shavano Park, TX	4,600	4,561	0.9%
San Antonio SARRTP	14	15	-6.7%
Data Point, TX	17,114	17,080	0.2%

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration