Allegheny Highlands Today

The Martinsburg VA Medical Center, subsidiary 613GE in Petersburg, West Virginia scheduled 709 pending appointments during the period ending April 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 708 had a wait time of 30 days or less (99.9%) and one appointment (0.1%) was 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
613	Martinsburg	31,170	27,925	3,245
613GG	Frederick	5,358	5,069	289
613GB	Hagerstown	3,319	3,189	130
613GC	Stephens City	3,301	3,228	73
613GF	Harrisonburg	2,173	2,073	100
613GA	Cumberland	1,947	1,841	106
613GE	Petersburg	709	708	1
613BU	Martinsburg	73	64	9
613GD	Franklin	50	50	0

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration