Lake County Times

The Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center in Cleveland Ohio scheduled 156,886 pending appointments across its locations during the period ending April 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments 145,220 had a wait time of 30 days or less (92.56%) and 11,666 appointments (7.44%) 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 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 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 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)	42,635	39,269	3,366
Canton, OH	13,400	12,901	499
Youngstown, OH	10,103	9,821	282
Lorain, OH	9,605	9,353	252
Sandusky, OH	6,582	5,674	908
Mansfield, OH (David F. Winder)	10,293	10,214	79
McCafferty, OH	913	893	20
Lake County, OH	9,473	8,955	518
Akron, OH	16,374	14,475	1,899
East Liverpool, OH	4,149	3,752	397
Warren, OH	3,183	2,956	227
New Philadelphia, OH	4,333	4,096	237
Ravenna, OH	4,159	3,876	283
Parma, OH	20,847	18,391	2,456
Cleveland Euclid Avenue, OH	425	421	4
Cuyahoga County 4, OH - Mobile	214	94	120