Metro West Times

The VA Boston Health Care System, subsidiary 523GA in Framingham, Massachusetts, scheduled 378 pending appointments during the period ending September 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 365 had a wait time of 30 days or less (96.6%) and 13 appointments (3.4%) 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 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	26,879	23,972	2,907
523A5	Brockton	18,744	17,861	883
523A4	West Roxbury	11,096	9,391	1,705
523BY	Lowell	3,607	3,331	276
523BZ	Boston	1,368	1,309	59
523GA	Framingham	378	365	13
523GC	Quincy	262	256	6
523GD	Plymouth	232	224	8

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration