Jefferson Reporter

The Birmingham VA Medical Center, subsidiary 521 in Birmingham, Alabama, scheduled 38,664 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, 32,759 had a wait time of 30 days or less (84.7%) and 5,905 appointments (15.3%) 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
521	Birmingham	38,664	32,759	5,905
521GA	Huntsville	16,354	15,537	817
521GJ	Birmingham 7th Avenue South	11,702	11,255	447
521QA	Callahan	7,077	6,178	899
521GC	Florence	4,250	4,248	2
521GI	Guntersville	3,634	3,601	33
521GD	Rainbow City	3,349	3,275	74
521GE	Oxford	3,244	3,239	5
521GG	Bessemer	3,045	2,690	355
521GH	Childersburg	2,471	2,466	5
521GF	Jasper	1,262	1,185	77

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration