San Diego City Wire

The VA San Diego Health Care System, subsidiary 664 in San Diego, California scheduled 61,285 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, 53,357 had a wait time of 30 days or less (87.1%) and 7,928 appointments (12.9%) 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
664	San Diego	61,285	53,357	7,928
664GB	Oceanside	17,392	15,913	1,479
664BY	San Diego	10,887	10,017	870
664GC	Chula Vista	4,202	3,949	253
664GD	Escondido	1,705	1,600	105
664GA	El Centro	1,394	1,341	53
664QA	San Diego	304	304	0

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration