Cedar Rapids Today

The VA Iowa City Health Care System, subsidiary 636GN in Cedar Rapids, Iowa scheduled 3,741 pending appointments during the period ending September 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 3,561 had a wait time of 30 days or less (95.2%) and 180 appointments (4.8%) 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 who earn a higher income are placed in the lower priority groups.

VA Iowa City Health Care System Appointments Scheduled in August

Facility Code	Location	Total Appointments Scheduled	Appointments Scheduled 30 Days or Less	Appointments Scheduled More than 30 Days
636A8	Iowa City	20,727	18,260	2,467
636GF	Davenport	6,119	5,762	357
636GN	Cedar Rapids	3,741	3,561	180
636GW	Coralville	3,643	3,557	86
636QJ	Iowa City	3,278	2,849	429
636GS	Ottumwa	2,557	2,548	9
636GH	Waterloo	2,381	2,190	191
636GI	Galesburg	2,186	2,109	77
636GG	Quincy	2,157	2,023	134
636GJ	Dubuque	2,021	1,966	55
636GT	Sterling	1,001	968	33
636GU	Decorah	881	869	12
636QG	Iowa City	408	135	273
636QI	Davenport	247	244	3
636QC	Cedar Rapids	89	83	6

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration