Smoky Mountain Today

The Mountain Home VA Medical Center ranked 35th among VA health care systems with 104,705 pending appointments across its 14 locations during the period ending Dec. 1, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

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 that when veterans apply for benefits, they are assigned to one of eight priority groups, with those 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.

Rank	Health Care System	Total Pending Appointments Scheduled
1	North Florida/South Georgia VA HCS	266,784
2	Orlando VAMC	238,822
3	VA Atlanta HCS	216,525
4	James A. Haley VA Hospital	213,187
5	VA North Texas HCS	203,121
6	VA Bay Pines HCS	202,626
7	W. G. Hefner VA MC	200,795
8	Michael E. DeBakey VAMC	200,237
9	VA Central Texas HCS	199,401
10	Louis Stokes Cleveland VAMC	199,396
11	Tennessee Valley HCS	196,679
12	VA South Texas HCS	183,276
13	VA Caribbean HCS	159,457
14	Wm. Jennings Bryan Dorn VAMC	157,845
15	VA Loma Linda HCS	149,286
16	VA Phoenix HCS	148,597
17	Durham VAMC	138,930
18	Hunter Holmes McGuire Richmond VAMC	137,896
19	Fayetteville VAMC	136,094
20	VA Southern Nevada HCS	127,560
21	VA Northern California HCS	126,327
22	VA Central Arkansas HCS	123,754
23	Birmingham VAMC	122,634
24	Ralph H. Johnson VAMC	122,288
25	West Palm Beach VAMC	119,410
26	VA Gulf Coast Veterans HCS	118,848
27	VA Greater Los Angeles HCS	116,500
28	Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital	113,594
29	Oklahoma City VAMC	111,176
30	VA Minneapolis HCS	110,733
31	VA Miami HCS	109,030
32	VA Pittsburgh HCS	107,542
33	St. Louis, MO VAMC	107,157
34	VA Southeast Louisiana HCS	106,598
35	Mountain Home VAMC	104,705
36	VA Eastern Colorado HCS	103,762
37	VA Long Beach HCS	103,559
38	VA New Jersey HCS	102,262
39	Milwaukee VAMC	100,073
40	Philadelphia VAMC	99,362
41	VA Boston HCS	96,769
42	VA Southern Arizona HCS	95,981
43	VA San Diego HCS	94,581
44	Chalmers P. Wylie Ambulatory VA HCS	93,578
45	Portland VAMC	93,338
46	Charles George VAMC	92,785
47	Hampton VAMC	92,374
48	VA Connecticut HCS	91,619
49	Syracuse VAMC	91,177
50	VA New Mexico HCS	88,565
51	Robley Rex VAMC	87,449
52	Lebanon VAMC	86,665
53	Memphis VAMC	86,658
54	VA Ann Arbor HCS	85,441
55	John D. Dingell VAMC	82,336
56	Harry S. Truman Memorial VA Hospital	81,576
57	Richard L. Roudebush VAMC	80,951
58	Cincinnati VAMC	80,598
59	Salem VAMC	78,730
60	VA Puget Sound HCS	78,569
61	Charlie Norwood VAMC	78,386
62	Providence VAMC	76,650
63	VA Central Alabama HCS	74,617
64	Kansas City VAMC	74,195
65	VA Western New York at Buffalo HCS	73,787
66	Wilkes-Barre VAMC	71,494
67	VA of the Ozarks HCS	71,381
68	VA Salt Lake City HCS	70,442
69	Montgomery VAMC	69,980
70	Carl Vinson VAMC	69,406
71	VA Northern Indiana HCS	68,537
72	Jesse Brown VAMC	67,683
73	VA Nebraska-Western Iowa HCS	67,647
74	Dayton VAMC	67,287
75	VA Maryland HCS	66,893
76	Overton Brooks VAMC	66,539
77	Washington DC VAMC	66,171
78	Muskogee VAMC	65,496
79	VA Maine HCS	62,472
80	VA El Paso HCS	60,866
81	Battle Creek VAMC	59,119
82	Martinsburg VAMC	58,862
83	Hershel 'Woody' Williams VAMC	57,908
84	VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend HCS	57,099
85	VA Eastern Kansas HCS	56,856
86	Marion VAMC	56,239
87	VA NY Harbor HCS	56,203
88	Albany Stratton VAMC	55,892
89	VA Palo Alto HCS	54,869
90	San Francisco VAMC	54,833
91	Northport Affairs VAMC	54,657
92	VA Alexandria HCS	52,763
93	VA Iowa City HCS	52,562
94	Bath VAMC	51,704
95	Wilmington VAMC	51,199
96	Robert J. Dole VAMC	49,661
97	Louis A. Johnson VAMC	49,452
98	VA Amarillo HCS	49,367
99	VA Montana HCS	49,050
100	VA St. Cloud HCS	47,704
101	VA Central Western Massachusetts HCS	47,115
102	Aleda E. Lutz VAMC	46,939
103	VA Pacific Islands HCS	46,379
104	James E. Van Zandt Altoona VAMC	44,248
105	Madison VA Hospital	43,193
106	VA Central California HCS	42,310
107	Manchester VAMC	42,215
108	White River Junction VAMC	42,086
109	Lexington VAMC	42,008
110	VA Sierra Nevada HCS	41,429
111	James J. Peters VAMC	40,915
112	Roseburg VAMC	37,717
113	Sioux Falls VAMC	37,656
114	Erie VAMC	36,527
115	Chillicothe VAMC	35,886
116	VA Illiana HCS	35,549
117	Fargo VAMC	35,158
118	Boise VAMC	34,365
119	James A. Lovell Federal HCS	33,888
120	VA Hudson Valley HCS	33,731
121	VA Central Iowa HCS	31,117
122	Poplar Bluff VAMC	29,473
123	Tomah VAMC	29,369
124	VA Northern Arizona HCS	26,650
125	Spokane VAMC	25,935
126	Beckley VAMC	25,696
127	VA Butler HCS	25,354
128	Coatesville VAMC	23,559
129	VA West Texas HCS	21,272
130	Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial VA Hospital	21,256
131	Cheyenne VAMC	20,955
132	Tuscaloosa VAMC	19,899
133	VA Black Hills HCS	18,576
134	Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VAMC	17,625
135	Grand Junction VAMC	15,035
136	Oscar G. Johnson VAMC	14,196
137	Southern Oregon HCS	9,870
138	Sheridan VAMC	9,264
139	VA Alaska HCS	8,094

Source: U.S. Veteran’s Administration