Cedar Rapids Today

The VA Iowa City Health Care System Iowa scheduled 53,649 pending appointments across its locations during the period ending January 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments 49,681 had a wait time of 30 days or less (92.6%) and 3,968 appointments (7.4%) 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	20,357	17,931	2,426
Quad Cities, IA	8,055	7,631	424
Quincy, IL	2,516	2,445	71
Waterloo, IA	2,771	2,655	116
Galesburg, IL (Lane A. Evans)	2,322	2,243	79
Dubuque, IA	2,143	2,061	82
Cedar Rapids, IA	3,620	3,533	87
Ottumwa, IA	2,546	2,538	8
Sterling, IL	961	908	53
Decorah, IA	842	823	19
Coralville, IA	3,665	3,566	99
Linn County, IA	74	74	0
Iowa City, IA - Mobile	268	155	113
Davenport, IA	271	266	5
Iowa City South Clinton Street, IA	3,238	2,852	386