Baton Rouge Reporter

The VA Southeast Louisiana Health Care System, subsidiary 629BY in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, scheduled 9,293 pending appointments during the period ending December 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 8,656 had a wait time of 30 days or less (93.2%) and 637 appointments (6.9%) 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
629	New Orleans	51,172	44,562	6,610
629BY	Baton Rouge	9,293	8,656	637
629GB	Hammond	5,199	5,123	76
629GC	Slidell	4,046	3,937	109
629GA	Houma	2,166	2,148	18
629QA	Baton Rouge	2,107	1,997	110
629GD	Reserve	1,498	1,491	7
629GF	Bogalusa	1,290	1,285	5
629GE	Franklin	804	787	17

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration