West DFW News

The VA North Texas Health Care System, subsidiary 549GH in Greenville, Texas, scheduled 2,105 pending appointments during the period ending November 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 2,042 had a wait time of 30 days or less (97%) and 63 appointments (3%) 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 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	81,990	74,057	7,933
549BY	Fort Worth	38,615	35,280	3,335
549A4	Bonham	13,799	13,312	487
549QC	Tyler	7,683	6,708	975
549GD	Denton	6,959	6,763	196
549GL	Plano	4,852	4,734	118
549GK	Dallas	3,545	3,527	18
549GJ	Sherman	3,161	3,058	103
549GM	Grand Prairie	2,697	2,671	26
549GH	Greenville	2,105	2,042	63
549GE	Decatur	1,693	1,646	47
549GF	Granbury	796	781	15

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration