Metro West Times

The VA Boston Health Care System, subsidiary 523GA in Framingham, Massachusetts scheduled 538 pending appointments during the period ending April 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 485 had a wait time of 30 days or less (90.2%) and 53 appointments (9.9%) 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
523	Boston	31,990	28,278	3,712
523A5	Brockton	24,054	22,709	1,345
523A4	West Roxbury	13,459	11,976	1,483
523BY	Lowell	5,620	5,204	416
523BZ	Boston	2,053	1,973	80
523GA	Framingham	538	485	53
523GC	Quincy	407	397	10
523GD	Plymouth	329	295	34

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration