Lake County Times

The Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center in Cleveland reported that 35 patients newly enrolled in its benefits program requested appointments but had not received one during the period ending March 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

During that same time frame, the system scheduled 201,917 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)	62,793	59,161	3,632
Canton, OH	16,047	15,702	345
Youngstown, OH	11,779	11,432	347
Lorain, OH	11,069	10,911	158
Sandusky, OH	7,440	7,186	254
Mansfield, OH (David F. Winder)	12,952	12,752	200
McCafferty, OH	1,439	1,405	34
Lake County, OH	11,229	10,875	354
Akron, OH	20,168	18,909	1,259
East Liverpool, OH	4,542	4,502	40
Warren, OH	4,243	4,082	161
New Philadelphia, OH	4,939	4,819	120
Ravenna, OH	5,128	4,839	289
Parma, OH	26,291	24,460	1,831
Cleveland Superior Avenue, OH	29	24	5
Summit County, OH	11	11	0
Cleveland Euclid Avenue, OH	1,073	1,062	11
Cuyahoga County 4, OH - Mobile	375	320	55

Source: U.S. Veteran’s Administration