Housatonic Valley News

The VA Connecticut Health Care System, subsidiary 689GE in Danbury, Connecticut scheduled 563 pending appointments during the period ending October 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 550 had a wait time of 30 days or less (97.7%) and 13 appointments (2.3%) 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
689	West Haven	44,529	42,650	1,879
689A4	Newington	37,039	35,920	1,119
689HC	New London	1,688	1,642	46
689GA	Waterbury	1,398	1,377	21
689GB	Stamford	1,396	1,383	13
689QA	West Haven	1,212	1,210	2
689GC	Willimantic	579	564	15
689GE	Danbury	563	550	13
689GD	Winsted	541	533	8

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration