The VA New Jersey Health Care System ranked 64th among VA health care systems with 57,617 pending appointments across its 12 locations during the period ending July 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 | Orlando VAMC | 198,639 |
| 2 | North Florida/South Georgia VA HCS | 188,314 |
| 3 | Tennessee Valley HCS | 171,923 |
| 4 | VA Bay Pines HCS | 165,055 |
| 5 | VA North Texas HCS | 162,723 |
| 6 | James A. Haley VA Hospital | 162,158 |
| 7 | W. G. Hefner VA MC | 161,994 |
| 8 | VA Atlanta HCS | 161,982 |
| 9 | VA Central Texas HCS | 160,702 |
| 10 | Michael E. DeBakey VAMC | 158,286 |
| 11 | VA South Texas HCS | 155,763 |
| 12 | Louis Stokes Cleveland VAMC | 149,638 |
| 13 | VA Caribbean HCS | 128,800 |
| 14 | VA Phoenix HCS | 119,147 |
| 15 | Wm. Jennings Bryan Dorn VAMC | 115,499 |
| 16 | VA Loma Linda HCS | 114,132 |
| 17 | Hunter Holmes McGuire Richmond VAMC | 113,642 |
| 18 | Durham VAMC | 112,528 |
| 19 | West Palm Beach VAMC | 102,779 |
| 20 | VA Central Arkansas HCS | 101,644 |
| 21 | VA Northern California HCS | 101,360 |
| 22 | Birmingham VAMC | 101,338 |
| 23 | Fayetteville VAMC | 97,586 |
| 24 | VA Gulf Coast Veterans HCS | 92,099 |
| 25 | Mountain Home VAMC | 91,159 |
| 26 | VA Greater Los Angeles HCS | 90,846 |
| 27 | VA Miami HCS | 88,362 |
| 28 | Ralph H. Johnson VAMC | 88,256 |
| 29 | VA Southern Nevada HCS | 87,949 |
| 30 | Milwaukee VAMC | 83,884 |
| 31 | Oklahoma City VAMC | 81,847 |
| 32 | VA Minneapolis HCS | 79,480 |
| 33 | Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital | 78,201 |
| 34 | Hampton VAMC | 77,522 |
| 35 | VA Southern Arizona HCS | 75,561 |
| 36 | Memphis VAMC | 74,592 |
| 37 | VA Eastern Colorado HCS | 73,836 |
| 38 | Kansas City VAMC | 72,420 |
| 39 | VA Long Beach HCS | 72,150 |
| 40 | Syracuse VAMC | 71,577 |
| 41 | Philadelphia VAMC | 71,130 |
| 42 | Lebanon VAMC | 71,010 |
| 43 | Robley Rex VAMC | 70,462 |
| 44 | Harry S. Truman Memorial VA Hospital | 69,877 |
| 45 | VA New Mexico HCS | 69,402 |
| 46 | Salem VAMC | 69,090 |
| 47 | VA Southeast Louisiana HCS | 69,065 |
| 48 | VA Pittsburgh HCS | 67,857 |
| 49 | VA San Diego HCS | 64,514 |
| 50 | Portland VAMC | 63,907 |
| 51 | VA Boston HCS | 63,762 |
| 52 | VA of the Ozarks HCS | 62,040 |
| 53 | John D. Dingell VAMC | 61,934 |
| 54 | VA Ann Arbor HCS | 61,613 |
| 55 | Muskogee VAMC | 60,843 |
| 56 | VA Connecticut HCS | 60,592 |
| 57 | Richard L. Roudebush VAMC | 60,500 |
| 58 | Overton Brooks VAMC | 60,463 |
| 59 | Providence VAMC | 59,376 |
| 60 | VA Central Alabama HCS | 58,719 |
| 61 | Charlie Norwood VAMC | 58,501 |
| 62 | Charles George VAMC | 58,302 |
| 63 | Montgomery VAMC | 58,275 |
| 64 | VA New Jersey HCS | 57,617 |
| 65 | Cincinnati VAMC | 57,189 |
| 66 | VA Northern Indiana HCS | 56,733 |
| 67 | Carl Vinson VAMC | 55,251 |
| 68 | Dayton VAMC | 53,679 |
| 69 | Chalmers P. Wylie Ambulatory VA HCS | 53,563 |
| 70 | St. Louis, MO VAMC | 52,933 |
| 71 | VA Western New York at Buffalo HCS | 51,777 |
| 72 | VA Eastern Kansas HCS | 49,884 |
| 73 | Marion VAMC | 49,732 |
| 74 | Wilkes-Barre VAMC | 48,716 |
| 75 | VA Salt Lake City HCS | 48,396 |
| 76 | VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend HCS | 47,779 |
| 77 | VA Nebraska-Western Iowa HCS | 47,159 |
| 78 | Battle Creek VAMC | 46,923 |
| 79 | Hershel ‘Woody’ Williams VAMC | 44,932 |
| 80 | VA El Paso HCS | 44,888 |
| 81 | VA Puget Sound HCS | 44,718 |
| 82 | VA Montana HCS | 44,417 |
| 83 | VA Alexandria HCS | 43,087 |
| 84 | Albany Stratton VAMC | 42,554 |
| 85 | Robert J. Dole VAMC | 42,473 |
| 86 | VA Iowa City HCS | 42,232 |
| 87 | VA Amarillo HCS | 42,022 |
| 88 | James E. Van Zandt Altoona VAMC | 40,357 |
| 89 | VA Maryland HCS | 39,900 |
| 90 | VA Maine HCS | 39,389 |
| 91 | VA Pacific Islands HCS | 38,167 |
| 92 | Jesse Brown VAMC | 36,217 |
| 93 | Martinsburg VAMC | 35,809 |
| 94 | Wilmington VAMC | 34,864 |
| 95 | VA St. Cloud HCS | 34,290 |
| 96 | San Francisco VAMC | 33,905 |
| 97 | Louis A. Johnson VAMC | 32,683 |
| 98 | Washington DC VAMC | 31,768 |
| 99 | VA Sierra Nevada HCS | 31,699 |
| 100 | Northport Affairs VAMC | 30,031 |
| 101 | VA Illiana HCS | 29,837 |
| 102 | VA Central California HCS | 29,795 |
| 103 | Aleda E. Lutz VAMC | 29,168 |
| 104 | Roseburg VAMC | 28,762 |
| 105 | Chillicothe VAMC | 28,257 |
| 106 | Manchester VAMC | 28,229 |
| 107 | Bath VAMC | 27,644 |
| 108 | VA Palo Alto HCS | 27,569 |
| 109 | White River Junction VAMC | 27,392 |
| 110 | Madison VA Hospital | 26,847 |
| 111 | VA Central Western Massachusetts HCS | 26,727 |
| 112 | Lexington VAMC | 26,542 |
| 113 | Erie VAMC | 26,450 |
| 114 | Poplar Bluff VAMC | 26,210 |
| 115 | Boise VAMC | 24,876 |
| 116 | Tomah VAMC | 24,345 |
| 117 | Fargo VAMC | 23,946 |
| 118 | VA NY Harbor HCS | 23,442 |
| 119 | VA Butler HCS | 23,198 |
| 120 | VA Northern Arizona HCS | 22,754 |
| 121 | Sioux Falls VAMC | 22,727 |
| 122 | James A. Lovell Federal HCS | 21,347 |
| 123 | James J. Peters VAMC | 21,293 |
| 124 | Beckley VAMC | 21,090 |
| 125 | VA Central Iowa HCS | 20,560 |
| 126 | Tuscaloosa VAMC | 17,460 |
| 127 | Coatesville VAMC | 17,197 |
| 128 | VA Black Hills HCS | 16,410 |
| 129 | VA Hudson Valley HCS | 15,875 |
| 130 | Cheyenne VAMC | 14,772 |
| 131 | VA West Texas HCS | 14,656 |
| 132 | Spokane VAMC | 14,475 |
| 133 | Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VAMC | 12,267 |
| 134 | Oscar G. Johnson VAMC | 10,791 |
| 135 | Grand Junction VAMC | 9,486 |
| 136 | Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial VA Hospital | 9,186 |
| 137 | Sheridan VAMC | 6,707 |
| 138 | Southern Oregon HCS | 5,171 |
| 139 | VA Alaska HCS | 3,531 |
Source: U.S. Veteran’s Administration
