Fayetteville Today

The Fayetteville VA Medical Center, subsidiary 565QD in Fayetteville, North Carolina scheduled 671 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, 630 had a wait time of 30 days or less (93.9%) and 41 appointments (6.1%) 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
565GL	Fayetteville	71,489	66,487	5,002
565GC	Wilmington	22,764	21,973	791
565	Fayetteville	18,894	18,110	784
565GA	Jacksonville	5,434	5,214	220
565GG	Sanford	3,579	3,421	158
565GE	Pembroke	3,099	3,079	20
565GF	Goldsboro	2,470	2,342	128
565GD	Hamlet	2,422	2,385	37
565GH	Holden Beach	1,779	1,758	21
565GJ	Jacksonville	1,423	1,407	16
565GM	Jacksonville	1,282	1,249	33
565QD	Fayetteville	671	630	41
565QA	Fayetteville	486	486	0
565MD	IDES Camp Lejeune	90	90	0
565MB	IDES Fort Bragg	13	13	0

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration