Lake Region News

The Manchester VA Medical Center, subsidiary 608HA in Tilton, New Hampshire, scheduled 900 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, 822 had a wait time of 30 days or less (91.3%) and 78 appointments (8.7%) were scheduled more than 30 days out.

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.

However, the Government Accountability Office released a report in July 2019 cautinging 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 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
608	Manchester	26,949	23,595	3,354
608HA	Tilton	900	822	78
608GC	Somersworth	829	602	227
608GD	Conway	820	760	60
608GA	Portsmouth	581	531	50

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration