South Vermont News

The White River Junction VA Medical Center, subsidiary 405GC in Brattleboro, Vermont, scheduled 232 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, 221 had a wait time of 30 days or less (95.3%) and 11 appointments (4.7%) 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
405	White River Junction	16,597	14,737	1,860
405HA	Burlington	3,814	3,264	550
405HC	Littleton	1,515	1,282	233
405HF	Rutland	616	578	38
405GA	Bennington	565	543	22
405HE	Keene	552	495	57
405QB	Newport	302	294	8
405GC	Brattleboro	232	221	11

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration