South Utah News

The VA Salt Lake City Health Care System, subsidiary 660GG in St. George, Utah, scheduled 1,856 pending appointments during the period ending August 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 1,613 had a wait time of 30 days or less (86.9%) and 243 appointments (13.1%) 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 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
660	Salt Lake City	30,237	27,260	2,977
660GB	Ogden	3,828	3,737	91
660QA	Idaho Falls	2,875	2,635	240
660GA	Pocatello	2,018	1,645	373
660GG	St. George	1,856	1,613	243
660GJ	West Valley City	1,844	1,686	158
660GE	Orem	1,107	1,050	57
660QC	South Ogden	467	435	32
660GD	Roosevelt	400	381	19
660GK	Elko	37	35	2
660QB	Price	16	16	0

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration