North Coastal News

The VA South Texas Health Care System in San Antonio reported that 160 patients newly enrolled in its benefits program requested appointments but had not received one during the period ending May 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

During that same time frame, the system scheduled 163,516 pending appointments across its 16 healthcare facilities.

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 or better to 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.

At a hearing before the House Veterans Affairs Committee after the report was released, Debra Draper, health care director at the GAO, said new patients may actually wait up to 70 days for an appointment when they first enroll for benefits.

The VA explains on its website that when veterans apply for benefits, they are assigned to 1 of 8 priority groups, with those who need immediate care due to service-related disabilities placed in higher priority groups. Veterans who don’t have service-connected disabilities and who earn a higher income are placed in the lower priority groups.

Location	Total Appointments Scheduled	Appointments Scheduled 30 Days or Less	Appointments Scheduled More than 30 Days
San Antonio, TX (Audie L. Murphy)	58,930	52,127	6,803
Kerrville, TX	13,365	12,050	1,315
San Antonio, TX - VADOM	79	79	0
San Antonio Eckert Road, TX (Frank M. Tejeda)	17,398	16,917	481
Unknown	73	67	6
Victoria, TX	2,750	2,721	29
South Bexar County, TX	4,590	4,522	68
Beeville, TX	231	214	17
San Antonio Woodcock Drive, TX	15,665	15,493	172
New Braunfels, TX	5,076	5,026	50
Seguin, TX	1,197	1,195	2
North Central Federal, TX	10,252	9,984	268
Balcones Heights, TX	7,176	6,985	191
Shavano Park, TX	5,217	5,126	91
San Antonio SARRTP	11	11	0
Data Point, TX	21,300	14,845	6,455

Source: U.S. Veteran’s Administration