Cedar Rapids Today

The VA Iowa City Health Care System, subsidiary 636GN in Cedar Rapids, Iowa scheduled 3,142 pending appointments during the period ending May 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 2,694 had a wait time of 30 days or less (85.7%) and 448 appointments (14.3%) 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 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	18,939	13,840	5,099
636GF	Davenport	8,190	7,433	757
636GN	Cedar Rapids	3,142	2,694	448
636GW	Coralville	2,943	2,774	169
636GH	Waterloo	2,750	2,233	517
636GG	Quincy	2,583	2,181	402
636QJ	Iowa City	2,213	1,133	1,080
636GI	Galesburg	2,145	1,931	214
636GJ	Dubuque	2,134	1,897	237
636GS	Ottumwa	2,077	2,036	41
636GT	Sterling	892	630	262
636GU	Decorah	711	671	40
636QI	Davenport	175	174	1
636QC	Cedar Rapids	72	66	6

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration