Philly Leader

The Philadelphia VA Medical Center, subsidiary 642 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, scheduled 46,754 pending appointments during the period ending July 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 42,899 had a wait time of 30 days or less (91.8%) and 3,855 appointments (8.3%) 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
642	Philadelphia	46,754	42,899	3,855
642GC	Horsham	9,105	8,988	117
642GA	Marlton	6,460	6,225	235
642GD	Sewell	5,579	5,471	108
642GF	Camden	1,458	1,444	14
642QA	Washington	986	972	14
642GH	Philadelphia	788	784	4

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration