Bloomington Leader

The Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center, subsidiary 583GB in Bloomington, Indiana scheduled 4,211 pending appointments during the period ending December 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 4,207 had a wait time of 30 days or less (99.9%) and four appointments (0.1%) 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
583	Indianapolis	63,925	60,448	3,477
583GB	Bloomington	4,211	4,207	4
583GD	Indianapolis West	3,229	2,935	294
583GF	Edinburgh	2,196	2,057	139
583GA	Terre Haute	1,207	1,193	14
583GE	West Lafayette	1,168	1,119	49
583QD	Indianapolis YMCA	1,106	1,094	12
583QE	Cold Spring Road	885	885	0
583GG	Shelbyville	816	765	51
583QC	Terre Haute	724	670	54
583QA	Bloomington	681	655	26
583GC	Martinsville	514	502	12
583QB	Indianapolis Meridian Street	32	32	0

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration