Housatonic Valley News

The VA Connecticut Health Care System, subsidiary 689GE in Danbury, Connecticut, scheduled 353 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, 345 had a wait time of 30 days or less (97.7%) and eight 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 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	34,125	29,934	4,191
689A4	Newington	22,335	20,123	2,212
689HC	New London	1,361	1,322	39
689GA	Waterbury	697	690	7
689GB	Stamford	667	659	8
689QA	West Haven	512	507	5
689GC	Willimantic	482	467	15
689GE	Danbury	353	345	8
689GD	Winsted	213	210	3

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration