San Mateo Sun

The San Francisco VA Medical Center, subsidiary 662GE in San Bruno, California, scheduled 756 pending appointments during the period ending September 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 715 had a wait time of 30 days or less (94.6%) and 41 appointments (5.4%) 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
662	San Francisco	24,189	20,363	3,826
662GA	Santa Rosa	5,672	4,726	946
662GC	Eureka	1,659	1,558	101
662GG	Clearlake	1,406	1,293	113
662GE	San Bruno	756	715	41
662GD	Ukiah	696	645	51
662GF	San Francisco	482	472	10

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration