Jefferson Reporter

The Birmingham VA Medical Center, subsidiary 521 in Birmingham, Alabama scheduled 51,349 pending appointments during the period ending March 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 47,905 had a wait time of 30 days or less (93.3%) and 3,444 appointments (6.7%) 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
521	Birmingham	51,349	47,905	3,444
521GA	Huntsville	20,116	19,111	1,005
521GJ	Birmingham 7th Avenue South	15,112	14,192	920
521QA	Callahan	9,276	9,009	267
521GE	Oxford	5,531	5,498	33
521GC	Florence	4,846	4,821	25
521GI	Guntersville	4,450	4,431	19
521GG	Bessemer	3,757	3,713	44
521GD	Rainbow City	3,593	3,583	10
521GH	Childersburg	2,882	2,876	6
521GF	Jasper	2,182	2,170	12

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration