SW Minnesota Today

The VA Minneapolis Health Care System, subsidiary 618GA in St. James, Minnesota, scheduled 585 pending appointments during the period ending September 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 563 had a wait time of 30 days or less (96.2%) and 22 appointments (3.8%) 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
618	Minneapolis	52,557	43,433	9,124
618BY	Superior	6,490	5,453	1,037
618GI	Ramsey	4,777	3,948	829
618GE	Chippewa Falls	3,460	3,145	315
618GD	Maplewood	2,032	1,809	223
618GG	Rochester	1,849	1,753	96
618GN	Mankato	1,417	1,368	49
618GJ	Shakopee	985	962	23
618GM	Rice Lake	895	762	133
618GK	Albert Lea	671	632	39
618GB	Hibbing	650	633	17
618GA	St. James	585	563	22
618GH	Hayward	403	396	7
618GL	Minneapolis	170	170	0
618QB	Ely	161	125	36
618QA	Fort Snelling	53	53	0

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration