South North Carolina News

The Fayetteville VA Medical Center, subsidiary 565GE in Pembroke, North Carolina scheduled 3,243 pending appointments during the period ending March 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 3,139 had a wait time of 30 days or less (96.8%) and 104 appointments (3.2%) 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
565GL	Fayetteville	76,142	69,325	6,817
565GC	Wilmington	24,220	23,304	916
565	Fayetteville	19,234	18,612	622
565GA	Jacksonville	6,080	5,804	276
565GG	Sanford	4,297	4,110	187
565GE	Pembroke	3,243	3,139	104
565GF	Goldsboro	2,943	2,809	134
565GH	Holden Beach	2,215	2,196	19
565GD	Hamlet	2,103	2,015	88
565GJ	Jacksonville	1,542	1,528	14
565GM	Jacksonville	1,343	1,318	25
565QD	Fayetteville	780	755	25
565QA	Fayetteville	232	232	0
565MD	IDES Camp Lejeune	101	101	0
565MB	IDES Fort Bragg	19	19	0

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration