Union County Review

The VA New Jersey Health Care System, subsidiary 561GB in Elizabeth, New Jersey scheduled 859 pending appointments during the period ending February 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 848 had a wait time of 30 days or less (98.7%) and 11 appointments (1.3%) 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
561	East Orange	39,270	35,176	4,094
561BZ	Brick	20,986	19,956	1,030
561A4	Lyons	18,547	17,304	1,243
561GD	Hackensack	7,163	7,079	84
561GI	Tinton Falls	5,249	5,094	155
561GA	Hamilton	2,020	1,979	41
561GF	Piscataway	1,656	1,652	4
561GH	Morristown	1,389	1,349	40
561GJ	Paterson	1,245	1,225	20
561GE	Jersey City	1,145	1,117	28
561GB	Elizabeth	859	848	11
561GK	Sussex	836	830	6

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration