North Coast Today

The Portland VA Medical Center, subsidiary 648GD in Warrenton, Oregon scheduled 224 pending appointments during the period ending May 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 190 had a wait time of 30 days or less (84.8%) and 34 appointments (15.2%) 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 who 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
648	Portland	33,932	29,400	4,532
648A4	Portland Vancouver	10,899	10,114	785
648GB	Salem	6,141	5,730	411
648GA	Bend	5,125	4,135	990
648GF	Hillsboro	2,904	2,726	178
648GE	Fairview	2,472	2,323	149
648GG	West Linn	2,278	2,173	105
648GJ	The Dalles	1,093	1,025	68
648GD	Warrenton	224	190	34
648GH	Newport	167	165	2
648GI	Portland	89	83	6
648BU	Vancouver	2	1	1

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration