East New Mexico News

The VA New Mexico Health Care System, subsidiary 501GA in Artesia, New Mexico, scheduled 884 pending appointments during the period ending December 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 859 had a wait time of 30 days or less (97.2%) and 25 appointments (2.8%) 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
501	Albuquerque	49,241	41,412	7,829
501GM	Rio Rancho	2,893	2,680	213
501GB	Farmington	2,104	1,928	176
501GK	Santa Fe	2,072	2,001	71
501GI	Alamogordo	1,501	1,460	41
501GJ	Durango	1,416	1,403	13
501G2	Las Vegas	1,065	1,052	13
501GA	Artesia	884	859	25
501GE	Espanola	779	485	294
501GD	Gallup	746	737	9
501GH	Truth or Consequences	448	438	10
501GN	Taos	407	402	5
501GC	Silver City	120	104	16
501HB	Raton	4	4	0

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration