South Indy News

The Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center, subsidiary 583GF in Edinburgh, Indiana, scheduled 1,305 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, 1,174 had a wait time of 30 days or less (90%) and 131 appointments (10%) 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
583	Indianapolis	47,986	44,107	3,879
583GB	Bloomington	4,594	4,364	230
583GD	Indianapolis West	2,724	2,410	314
583GF	Edinburgh	1,305	1,174	131
583GE	West Lafayette	1,040	1,025	15
583GA	Terre Haute	922	919	3
583GG	Shelbyville	763	664	99
583QE	Cold Spring Road	698	695	3
583QC	Terre Haute	479	477	2
583QD	Indianapolis YMCA	456	449	7
583QA	Bloomington	408	406	2
583GC	Martinsville	328	326	2
583QB	Indianapolis Meridian Street	1	1	0

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration