The VA New Jersey Health Care System ranked 40th among VA health care systems with 98,162 pending appointments across its 12 locations during the period ending Oct. 1, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in January 2019 reported 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 cautioning 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.
Debra Draper, health care director at the GAO, told the House Veterans Affairs Committee new patients may actually wait up to 70 days for an appointment when they first enroll for benefits.
The VA explains that when veterans apply for benefits, they are assigned to one of eight priority groups, with those need immediate care due to service-related disabilities placed in higher priority groups. Veterans who don’t have service-connected disabilities and who earn a higher income are placed in the lower priority groups.
| Rank | Health Care System | Total Pending Appointments Scheduled |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Florida/South Georgia VA HCS | 262,610 |
| 2 | Orlando VAMC | 234,924 |
| 3 | VA Atlanta HCS | 211,402 |
| 4 | VA North Texas HCS | 203,480 |
| 5 | James A. Haley VA Hospital | 202,332 |
| 6 | Louis Stokes Cleveland VAMC | 197,690 |
| 7 | VA Central Texas HCS | 197,508 |
| 8 | Michael E. DeBakey VAMC | 197,218 |
| 9 | Tennessee Valley HCS | 196,847 |
| 10 | W. G. Hefner VA MC | 196,207 |
| 11 | VA Bay Pines HCS | 195,217 |
| 12 | VA South Texas HCS | 177,952 |
| 13 | VA Caribbean HCS | 155,123 |
| 14 | Wm. Jennings Bryan Dorn VAMC | 154,130 |
| 15 | VA Phoenix HCS | 145,500 |
| 16 | VA Loma Linda HCS | 142,540 |
| 17 | Fayetteville VAMC | 141,616 |
| 18 | Hunter Holmes McGuire Richmond VAMC | 136,954 |
| 19 | Durham VAMC | 136,635 |
| 20 | VA Northern California HCS | 122,885 |
| 21 | Birmingham VAMC | 122,754 |
| 22 | VA Southern Nevada HCS | 122,408 |
| 23 | VA Central Arkansas HCS | 120,226 |
| 24 | Ralph H. Johnson VAMC | 118,455 |
| 25 | West Palm Beach VAMC | 117,103 |
| 26 | VA Gulf Coast Veterans HCS | 115,915 |
| 27 | VA Greater Los Angeles HCS | 113,975 |
| 28 | Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital | 111,218 |
| 29 | Oklahoma City VAMC | 110,739 |
| 30 | VA Minneapolis HCS | 107,400 |
| 31 | St. Louis, MO VAMC | 106,728 |
| 32 | VA Pittsburgh HCS | 106,169 |
| 33 | VA Miami HCS | 105,894 |
| 34 | VA Southeast Louisiana HCS | 103,569 |
| 35 | VA Eastern Colorado HCS | 103,498 |
| 36 | Mountain Home VAMC | 101,822 |
| 37 | Milwaukee VAMC | 98,685 |
| 38 | Philadelphia VAMC | 98,606 |
| 39 | VA Long Beach HCS | 98,354 |
| 40 | VA New Jersey HCS | 98,162 |
| 41 | VA Boston HCS | 97,200 |
| 42 | VA San Diego HCS | 94,180 |
| 43 | Portland VAMC | 93,513 |
| 44 | Hampton VAMC | 93,485 |
| 45 | Chalmers P. Wylie Ambulatory VA HCS | 92,483 |
| 46 | VA Southern Arizona HCS | 92,206 |
| 47 | VA Connecticut HCS | 88,945 |
| 48 | Charles George VAMC | 87,961 |
| 49 | Syracuse VAMC | 87,064 |
| 50 | Robley Rex VAMC | 86,806 |
| 51 | Memphis VAMC | 86,516 |
| 52 | VA New Mexico HCS | 86,246 |
| 53 | Lebanon VAMC | 85,028 |
| 54 | VA Ann Arbor HCS | 82,863 |
| 55 | Salem VAMC | 81,477 |
| 56 | John D. Dingell VAMC | 81,225 |
| 57 | Harry S. Truman Memorial VA Hospital | 80,727 |
| 58 | VA Puget Sound HCS | 79,895 |
| 59 | Cincinnati VAMC | 79,436 |
| 60 | Richard L. Roudebush VAMC | 79,378 |
| 61 | Charlie Norwood VAMC | 78,684 |
| 62 | Providence VAMC | 74,916 |
| 63 | VA Central Alabama HCS | 74,294 |
| 64 | VA Western New York at Buffalo HCS | 73,289 |
| 65 | Kansas City VAMC | 70,389 |
| 66 | Wilkes-Barre VAMC | 70,105 |
| 67 | VA Salt Lake City HCS | 69,656 |
| 68 | Montgomery VAMC | 69,482 |
| 69 | VA of the Ozarks HCS | 69,232 |
| 70 | VA Northern Indiana HCS | 68,333 |
| 71 | Carl Vinson VAMC | 67,896 |
| 72 | Overton Brooks VAMC | 66,779 |
| 73 | VA Maryland HCS | 66,635 |
| 74 | Dayton VAMC | 65,897 |
| 75 | Jesse Brown VAMC | 65,749 |
| 76 | VA Nebraska-Western Iowa HCS | 65,481 |
| 77 | Washington DC VAMC | 64,935 |
| 78 | Muskogee VAMC | 62,603 |
| 79 | VA Maine HCS | 62,076 |
| 80 | VA El Paso HCS | 61,258 |
| 81 | Martinsburg VAMC | 58,090 |
| 82 | Battle Creek VAMC | 57,047 |
| 83 | Hershel ‘Woody’ Williams VAMC | 56,900 |
| 84 | Marion VAMC | 56,744 |
| 85 | VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend HCS | 56,144 |
| 86 | Albany Stratton VAMC | 55,435 |
| 87 | VA Eastern Kansas HCS | 55,226 |
| 88 | Northport Affairs VAMC | 54,799 |
| 89 | VA Palo Alto HCS | 54,703 |
| 90 | San Francisco VAMC | 54,571 |
| 91 | VA NY Harbor HCS | 53,700 |
| 92 | VA Alexandria HCS | 52,363 |
| 93 | Wilmington VAMC | 50,806 |
| 94 | VA Iowa City HCS | 50,505 |
| 95 | Louis A. Johnson VAMC | 49,239 |
| 96 | VA St. Cloud HCS | 48,184 |
| 97 | Robert J. Dole VAMC | 47,841 |
| 98 | Aleda E. Lutz VAMC | 47,316 |
| 99 | VA Montana HCS | 46,903 |
| 100 | VA Amarillo HCS | 46,570 |
| 101 | VA Central Western Massachusetts HCS | 45,463 |
| 102 | VA Pacific Islands HCS | 45,169 |
| 103 | Madison VA Hospital | 43,255 |
| 104 | James E. Van Zandt Altoona VAMC | 42,985 |
| 105 | VA Central California HCS | 41,571 |
| 106 | Manchester VAMC | 41,340 |
| 107 | James J. Peters VAMC | 40,940 |
| 108 | White River Junction VAMC | 40,285 |
| 109 | VA Sierra Nevada HCS | 39,557 |
| 110 | Lexington VAMC | 39,555 |
| 111 | Sioux Falls VAMC | 37,993 |
| 112 | Roseburg VAMC | 37,490 |
| 113 | VA Illiana HCS | 35,579 |
| 114 | Chillicothe VAMC | 35,403 |
| 115 | Erie VAMC | 35,000 |
| 116 | Fargo VAMC | 34,444 |
| 117 | VA Hudson Valley HCS | 33,405 |
| 118 | Boise VAMC | 32,893 |
| 119 | James A. Lovell Federal HCS | 31,567 |
| 120 | VA Central Iowa HCS | 29,334 |
| 121 | Canandaigua VAMC | 29,146 |
| 122 | Poplar Bluff VAMC | 28,564 |
| 123 | Tomah VAMC | 28,389 |
| 124 | VA Northern Arizona HCS | 26,761 |
| 125 | Spokane VAMC | 26,045 |
| 126 | Beckley VAMC | 25,862 |
| 127 | VA Butler HCS | 25,437 |
| 128 | Coatesville VAMC | 23,665 |
| 129 | Bath VAMC | 22,003 |
| 130 | Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial VA Hospital | 21,068 |
| 131 | VA West Texas HCS | 20,794 |
| 132 | Cheyenne VAMC | 20,390 |
| 133 | Tuscaloosa VAMC | 18,986 |
| 134 | VA Black Hills HCS | 18,223 |
| 135 | Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VAMC | 17,542 |
| 136 | Grand Junction VAMC | 14,931 |
| 137 | Oscar G. Johnson VAMC | 14,494 |
| 138 | Southern Oregon HCS | 9,866 |
| 139 | Sheridan VAMC | 9,344 |
| 140 | VA Alaska HCS | 7,864 |
Source: U.S. Veteran’s Administration
