Fayetteville Standard

The VA of the Ozarks Health Care System, subsidiary 564 in Fayetteville, Arkansas, scheduled 22,755 pending appointments during the period ending October 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 20,707 had a wait time of 30 days or less (91%) and 2,048 appointments (9%) 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
564	Fayetteville	22,755	20,707	2,048
564BY	Springfield	21,481	20,149	1,332
564GC	Branson	6,541	6,228	313
564GF	Joplin	3,195	2,965	230
564GB	Fort Smith	2,600	2,422	178
564GA	Harrison	1,491	1,469	22
564GE	Jay	1,020	980	40
564GD	Ozark	501	470	31
564QB	Sunbridge	209	143	66
564QA	Township	6	5	1

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration