South Galveston News

The Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, subsidiary 580GJ in Texas City, Texas, scheduled 8,264 pending appointments during the period ending July 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 8,185 had a wait time of 30 days or less (99%) and 79 appointments (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 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
580	Houston	89,848	84,633	5,215
580GD	Conroe	11,357	10,979	378
580GE	Katy	10,084	9,890	194
580BY	Beaumont	9,425	9,298	127
580GH	Tomball	9,126	8,931	195
580BZ	Lufkin	8,921	8,574	347
580GJ	Texas City	8,264	8,185	79
580GG	Richmond	6,574	6,503	71
580GF	Lake Jackson	2,914	2,899	15
580GC	Galveston	1,771	1,768	3

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration