Cedar Rapids Today

The VA Iowa City Health Care System, subsidiary 636GN in Cedar Rapids, Iowa scheduled 3,738 pending appointments in October compared to 2,853 during the same period last year, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments this October, 3,615 had a wait time of 30 days or less (96.7%) and 123 appointments (3.3%) 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 or better to 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.

At a hearing before the House Veterans Affairs Committee after the report was released, Debra Draper, health care director at the GAO, said new patients may actually wait up to 70 days for an appointment when they first enroll for benefits.

The VA explains on its website that when veterans apply for benefits, they are assigned to 1 of 8 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 - 636GN Appointments Scheduled in October 2019 vs. October 2018

Facility Code	Location	Total Appointments Scheduled in October 2019	Total Appointments Scheduled in October 2018	Percent change in number of appointments
636A8	Iowa City	19,265	21,537	-10.5%
636GF	Davenport	6,880	2,767	148.6%
636GG	Quincy	2,279	1,446	57.6%
636GH	Waterloo	2,572	1,663	54.7%
636GI	Galesburg	2,210	1,677	31.8%
636GJ	Dubuque	2,086	1,397	49.3%
636GN	Cedar Rapids	3,738	2,853	31%
636GS	Ottumwa	2,535	2,194	15.5%
636GT	Sterling	921	737	25%
636GU	Decorah	894	687	30.1%
636GW	Coralville	3,412	3,356	1.7%
636QC	Cedar Rapids	31	91	-65.9%
636QG	Iowa City	344	284	21.1%
636QI	Davenport	243	402	-39.6%

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration