Durham Reporter

The Durham VA Medical Center, subsidiary 558 in Durham, North Carolina, scheduled 51,065 pending appointments during the period ending December 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 43,490 had a wait time of 30 days or less (85.2%) and 7,575 appointments (14.8%) 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
558	Durham	51,065	43,490	7,575
558GA	Greenville	23,673	21,579	2,094
558GE	Durham	4,589	4,409	180
558GB	Raleigh	4,123	3,999	124
558GC	Morehead City	3,532	3,346	186
558GG	Raleigh-Atlantic Avenue	2,400	2,296	104
558GF	Raleigh	2,141	1,653	488
558GD	Durham	1,629	1,543	86
558QA	Raleigh	192	152	40

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration