Omaha City Wire

The VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System, subsidiary 636 in Omaha, Nebraska, scheduled 34,183 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, 30,440 had a wait time of 30 days or less (89.1%) and 3,743 appointments (11%) 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
636	Omaha	34,183	30,440	3,743
636A4	Grand Island	10,194	9,284	910
636A5	Lincoln	7,430	6,318	1,112
636GL	Bellevue	3,605	3,290	315
636GA	Norfolk	1,027	981	46
636GB	North Platte	818	743	75
636GQ	Holdrege	805	764	41
636GP	Shenandoah	598	557	41
636QA	Omaha Dorcas Street	57	57	0
636BX	Omaha	10	10	0

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration