East New Mexico News

The VA New Mexico Health Care System, subsidiary 501GA in Artesia, New Mexico, scheduled 1,017 pending appointments during the period ending November 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 985 had a wait time of 30 days or less (96.9%) and 32 appointments (3.2%) 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
501	Albuquerque	52,652	44,620	8,032
501GM	Rio Rancho	3,167	2,842	325
501GK	Santa Fe	2,298	2,219	79
501GB	Farmington	2,207	2,097	110
501GJ	Durango	1,581	1,566	15
501GI	Alamogordo	1,489	1,445	44
501G2	Las Vegas	1,109	1,096	13
501GA	Artesia	1,017	985	32
501GD	Gallup	996	944	52
501GE	Espanola	795	479	316
501GH	Truth or Consequences	543	534	9
501GN	Taos	444	441	3
501GC	Silver City	167	160	7
501HB	Raton	9	9	0

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration