NE Iowa News

The VA Iowa City Health Care System, subsidiary 636GU in Decorah, Iowa scheduled 827 pending appointments during the period ending January 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 801 had a wait time of 30 days or less (96.9%) and 26 appointments (3.1%) 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
636A8	Iowa City	20,051	17,435	2,616
636GF	Davenport	7,943	7,510	433
636GW	Coralville	3,666	3,556	110
636GN	Cedar Rapids	3,633	3,538	95
636QJ	Iowa City	3,355	2,933	422
636GH	Waterloo	2,711	2,579	132
636GS	Ottumwa	2,525	2,511	14
636GG	Quincy	2,485	2,401	84
636GI	Galesburg	2,262	2,175	87
636GJ	Dubuque	2,114	2,025	89
636GT	Sterling	972	921	51
636GU	Decorah	827	801	26
636QI	Davenport	276	271	5
636QG	Iowa City	276	169	107
636QC	Cedar Rapids	76	76	0

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration