Cedar Rapids Today

The VA Iowa City Health Care System Iowa scheduled 55,290 pending appointments across its locations during the period ending February 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments 51,360 had a wait time of 30 days or less (92.89%) and 3,930 appointments (7.11%) were scheduled more than 30 days out.

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in January 2019 reported 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 cautioning 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.

Debra Draper, health care director at the GAO, told the House Veterans Affairs Committee new patients may actually wait up to 70 days for an appointment when they first enroll for benefits.

The VA explains 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 don’t have service-connected disabilities and who earn a higher income are placed in the lower priority groups.

Location	Total Appointments Scheduled	Appointments Scheduled 30 Days or Less	Appointments Scheduled More than 30 Days
Iowa City, IA	21,103	18,723	2,380
Quad Cities, IA	8,624	8,193	431
Quincy, IL	2,717	2,630	87
Waterloo, IA	2,839	2,746	93
Galesburg, IL (Lane A. Evans)	2,413	2,347	66
Dubuque, IA	2,150	2,083	67
Cedar Rapids, IA	3,516	3,419	97
Ottumwa, IA	2,570	2,556	14
Sterling, IL	937	871	66
Decorah, IA	847	829	18
Coralville, IA	3,596	3,484	112
Linn County, IA	72	70	2
Iowa City, IA - Mobile	300	174	126
Davenport, IA	251	246	5
Iowa City South Clinton Street, IA	3,355	2,989	366