Central Oregon Times

The Portland VA Medical Center, subsidiary 648GJ in The Dalles, Oregon scheduled 1,477 pending appointments during the period ending March 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 1,445 had a wait time of 30 days or less (97.8%) and 32 appointments (2.2%) 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
648	Portland	51,619	44,551	7,068
648A4	Portland Vancouver	18,904	17,605	1,299
648GB	Salem	8,889	8,002	887
648GA	Bend	6,325	5,659	666
648GF	Hillsboro	4,320	4,060	260
648GE	Fairview	3,410	3,320	90
648GG	West Linn	3,041	2,988	53
648GJ	The Dalles	1,477	1,445	32
648GD	Warrenton	387	381	6
648GH	Newport	382	353	29
648GI	Portland	266	227	39
648BU	Vancouver	8	8	0

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration