Tyler Reporter

The VA North Texas Health Care System, subsidiary 549QC in Tyler, Texas scheduled 8,075 pending appointments during the period ending February 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 7,723 had a wait time of 30 days or less (95.6%) and 352 appointments (4.4%) 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
549	Dallas	106,394	97,461	8,933
549BY	Fort Worth	46,782	43,432	3,350
549A4	Bonham	16,892	16,278	614
549GD	Denton	8,416	8,183	233
549QC	Tyler	8,075	7,723	352
549GL	Plano	6,003	5,835	168
549GJ	Sherman	3,787	3,764	23
549GK	Dallas	3,554	3,519	35
549GM	Grand Prairie	2,802	2,781	21
549GH	Greenville	2,314	2,205	109
549GE	Decatur	1,656	1,630	26
549GF	Granbury	955	919	36

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration