Clay Reporter

The Kansas City VA Medical Center, subsidiary 589JB in Excelsior Springs, Missouri scheduled 972 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, 946 had a wait time of 30 days or less (97.3%) and 26 appointments (2.7%) 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
589	Kansas City	53,449	51,841	1,608
589JF	Kansas City	9,587	9,361	226
589G1	Warrensburg	4,360	4,321	39
589JC	Shawnee	3,035	3,017	18
589GB	Belton	2,367	2,342	25
589GD	Nevada	1,778	1,768	10
589JB	Excelsior Springs	972	946	26
589GC	Paola	857	851	6
589QA	Overland Park	627	626	1
589GZ	Cameron	480	465	15
589HK	Kansas City	337	335	2
589MC	IDES Whiteman AFB	4	4	0

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration