Oakland City Wire

The VA Long Beach Health Care System, subsidiary 600 in Long Beach, California, scheduled 54,723 pending appointments during the period ending August 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 47,320 had a wait time of 30 days or less (86.5%) and 7,403 appointments (13.5%) 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 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
600	Long Beach	54,723	47,320	7,403
600GB	Santa Ana	5,611	5,419	192
600GE	Laguna Hills	3,516	3,466	50
600GA	Anaheim	2,916	2,805	111
600GD	Santa Fe Springs	2,707	2,670	37
600GC	Long Beach	184	174	10

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration