Rockingham Times

The Manchester VA Medical Center, subsidiary 608HA in Tilton, NH scheduled 900 pending appointments in February compared to 845 the previous month, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 822 had a wait time of 30 days or less (91.3%) and 78 appointments (8.7%) were scheduled more than 30 days out.

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in January 2019 reported 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 cautioning 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.

Debra Draper, health care director at the GAO, told the Veterans Affairs Committee new patients may actually wait up to 70 days for an appointment when they first enroll for benefits.

The VA explains on its website 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 don’t have service-connected disabilities and who earn a higher income are placed in the lower priority groups.

Facility Code	Location	Total Appointments Scheduled in February	Total Appointments Scheduled in January	Percent change in number of appointments
608	Manchester, New Hampshire	26,949	23,091	16.7%
608GA	Portsmouth, New Hampshire	581	556	4.5%
608GC	Somersworth, New Hampshire	829	739	12.2%
608GD	Conway, New Hampshire	820	749	9.5%
608HA	Tilton, New Hampshire	900	845	6.5%

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration