Solano Sun

The VA Northern California Health Care System, subsidiary 612GD in Fairfield, California scheduled 4,795 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, 4,527 had a wait time of 30 days or less (94.4%) and 268 appointments (5.6%) 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.

VA Northern California Health Care System Appointments Scheduled in August

Facility Code	Location	Total Appointments Scheduled	Appointments Scheduled 30 Days or Less	Appointments Scheduled More than 30 Days
612A4	Sacramento	43,719	39,834	3,885
612GH	McClellan Park	18,865	18,069	796
612GF	Martinez	18,632	16,799	1,833
612B4	Redding	9,475	8,697	778
612GG	Chico	6,918	6,743	175
612GE	Mare Island	6,538	6,334	204
612BY	Oakland	5,844	5,415	429
612GD	Fairfield	4,795	4,527	268
612QC	Cypress Avenue	3,576	3,052	524
612GI	Yuba City	2,594	2,549	45
612QB	Oakland	1,454	1,425	29
612GJ	Yreka	460	434	26
612QD	Howe Road	60	58	2
612MA	IDES McClellan OPC	2	2	0

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration