Tucson Standard

The VA Southern Arizona Health Care System, subsidiary 678 in Tucson, Arizona, scheduled 50,684 pending appointments during the period ending August 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 43,456 had a wait time of 30 days or less (85.7%) and 7,228 appointments (14.3%) 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 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
678	Tucson	50,684	43,456	7,228
678GA	Sierra Vista	5,814	5,582	232
678GB	Yuma	4,834	4,813	21
678GF	Tucson	3,649	3,435	214
678GC	Casa Grande	2,701	2,626	75
678GG	Tucson	2,595	2,524	71
678GE	Green Valley	782	757	25
678GD	Safford	216	214	2

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration