Oakland City Wire

The VA Northern California Health Care System, subsidiary 612QB in Oakland, California scheduled 1,667 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, 1,525 had a wait time of 30 days or less (91.5%) and 142 appointments (8.5%) 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
612A4	Sacramento	44,807	40,809	3,998
612GF	Martinez	20,406	17,934	2,472
612GH	McClellan Park	19,380	18,350	1,030
612B4	Redding	10,073	8,894	1,179
612GG	Chico	8,216	7,875	341
612BY	Oakland	6,756	6,227	529
612GE	Mare Island	6,438	6,231	207
612GD	Fairfield	4,574	4,354	220
612QC	Cypress Avenue	3,527	3,195	332
612GI	Yuba City	2,666	2,596	70
612QB	Oakland	1,667	1,525	142
612GJ	Yreka	422	362	60
612MA	IDES McClellan OPC	7	7	0
612QD	Howe Road	3	3	0

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration