Bloomington Leader

The Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center, subsidiary 583GB in Bloomington, Indiana scheduled 3,573 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, 3,567 had a wait time of 30 days or less (99.8%) and six appointments (0.2%) 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.

Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center Appointments Scheduled in August

Facility Code	Location	Total Appointments Scheduled	Appointments Scheduled 30 Days or Less	Appointments Scheduled More than 30 Days
583	Indianapolis	66,507	62,448	4,059
583GB	Bloomington	3,573	3,567	6
583GD	Indianapolis West	3,228	2,882	346
583GF	Edinburgh	2,162	2,041	121
583QD	Indianapolis YMCA	1,372	1,339	33
583GE	West Lafayette	1,272	1,220	52
583GA	Terre Haute	1,072	1,062	10
583QE	Cold Spring Road	942	940	2
583QC	Terre Haute	694	596	98
583QA	Bloomington	680	660	20
583GG	Shelbyville	663	657	6
583GC	Martinsville	523	521	2
583QB	Indianapolis Meridian Street	26	26	0

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration