West Hudson Valley News

The Albany Stratton VA Medical Center, subsidiary 528GZ in Kingston, New York, scheduled 1,791 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, 1,780 had a wait time of 30 days or less (99.4%) and 11 appointments (0.6%) 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
528A8	Albany	25,861	22,917	2,944
528GT	Glens Falls	3,143	3,060	83
528GZ	Kingston	1,791	1,780	11
528GW	Schenectady	1,635	1,586	49
528GY	Clifton Park	1,380	1,374	6
528GV	Plattsburgh	1,365	1,304	61
528G6	Fonda	1,076	1,072	4
528GX	Troy	963	954	9
528G7	Catskill	823	803	20
528G2	Westport	435	422	13
528QK	Saranac Lake	394	355	39
528G3	Bainbridge	365	350	15

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration