South North Carolina News

The Fayetteville VA Medical Center, subsidiary 565GE in Pembroke, North Carolina, scheduled 2,188 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, 2,080 had a wait time of 30 days or less (95.1%) and 108 appointments (4.9%) 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
565GL	Fayetteville	46,793	42,605	4,188
565GC	Wilmington	18,219	16,444	1,775
565	Fayetteville	12,681	10,517	2,164
565GA	Jacksonville	3,669	3,574	95
565GG	Sanford	3,077	3,017	60
565GF	Goldsboro	2,886	2,863	23
565GE	Pembroke	2,188	2,080	108
565GH	Holden Beach	1,671	1,642	29
565GD	Hamlet	1,669	1,652	17
565GM	Jacksonville	1,184	1,176	8
565GJ	Jacksonville	1,113	1,109	4
565QA	Fayetteville	782	752	30
565QD	Fayetteville	362	305	57
565MB	IDES Fort Bragg	74	67	7
565MD	IDES Camp Lejeune	44	44	0

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration