Bloomington Leader

The Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center, subsidiary 583QA in Bloomington, Indiana scheduled 749 pending appointments during the period ending March 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 737 had a wait time of 30 days or less (98.4%) and 12 appointments (1.6%) 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 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	64,420	61,354	3,066
583GB	Bloomington	4,557	4,556	1
583GD	Indianapolis West	3,378	3,140	238
583GF	Edinburgh	1,995	1,878	117
583QD	Indianapolis YMCA	1,854	1,818	36
583GA	Terre Haute	1,291	1,284	7
583GE	West Lafayette	1,224	1,152	72
583GG	Shelbyville	926	887	39
583QE	Cold Spring Road	816	815	1
583QA	Bloomington	749	737	12
583QC	Terre Haute	706	660	46
583GC	Martinsville	465	460	5
583QB	Indianapolis Meridian Street	28	28	0

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration