Polk Times

The James A. Haley VA Hospital, subsidiary 673GB in Lakeland, Florida scheduled 12,470 pending appointments during the period ending June 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 11,894 had a wait time of 30 days or less (95.4%) and 576 appointments (4.6%) 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.

Facility Code	Location	Total Appointments Scheduled	Appointments Scheduled 30 Days or Less	Appointments Scheduled More than 30 Days
673	Tampa	45,865	42,173	3,692
673QJ	Tampa	27,926	26,607	1,319
673QB	Forty Sixth Street South	24,513	23,790	723
673BZ	New Port Richey	14,518	14,344	174
673GB	Lakeland	12,470	11,894	576
673GG	Riverview	8,374	7,862	512
673QH	Tampa	7,862	7,125	737
673GC	Brooksville	7,151	7,104	47
673QC	Lakeland	3,508	3,196	312
673GF	Zephyrhills	3,058	2,987	71
673QE	Highway Nineteen	2,205	2,190	15
673QG	New Port Richey	1,023	1,010	13
673QD	New Port Richey	569	542	27
673QI	Zephyrhills	530	529	1
673QA	Forty Sixth Street North	169	169	0
673BV	Tampa	1	1	0

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration