Polk Times

The James A. Haley VA Hospital, subsidiary 673GB in Lakeland, Florida scheduled 13,709 pending appointments during the period ending January 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 13,468 had a wait time of 30 days or less (98.2%) and 241 appointments (1.8%) 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 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
673	Tampa	60,617	56,528	4,089
673QJ	Tampa	37,021	35,188	1,833
673QB	Forty Sixth Street South	33,206	31,823	1,383
673BZ	New Port Richey	19,171	18,579	592
673GB	Lakeland	13,709	13,468	241
673QH	Tampa	9,530	9,271	259
673GG	Riverview	9,466	8,751	715
673GC	Brooksville	9,034	8,908	126
673QC	Lakeland	4,858	4,313	545
673GF	Zephyrhills	3,446	3,354	92
673QE	Highway Nineteen	3,354	3,158	196
673QD	New Port Richey	1,992	1,693	299
673QG	New Port Richey	1,232	1,205	27
673QI	Zephyrhills	657	654	3
673QA	Forty Sixth Street North	622	595	27
673QF	Tampa	12	12	0
673BV	Tampa	1	1	0

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration