Pasco Reporter

The James A. Haley VA Hospital, subsidiary 673BZ in New Port Richey, Florida, scheduled 14,028 pending appointments during the period ending August 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 13,928 had a wait time of 30 days or less (99.3%) and 100 appointments (0.7%) 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 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
673	Tampa	43,725	40,851	2,874
673QB	Forty Sixth Street South	25,940	25,424	516
673QJ	Tampa	25,332	24,505	827
673BZ	New Port Richey	14,028	13,928	100
673GB	Lakeland	11,789	11,544	245
673GG	Riverview	8,562	8,396	166
673GC	Brooksville	6,975	6,919	56
673QH	Tampa	4,475	4,160	315
673QC	Lakeland	3,252	3,128	124
673GF	Zephyrhills	2,938	2,893	45
673QE	Highway Nineteen	1,954	1,879	75
673QG	New Port Richey	1,068	1,060	8
673QA	Forty Sixth Street North	657	584	73
673QI	Zephyrhills	570	568	2
673QD	New Port Richey	250	242	8
673BV	Tampa	3	3	0
673QF	Tampa	2	2	0

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration