NW New Mexico News

The VA New Mexico Health Care System, subsidiary 501GE in Espanola, New Mexico, scheduled 933 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, 542 had a wait time of 30 days or less (58.1%) and 391 appointments (41.9%) 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
501	Albuquerque	50,836	41,165	9,671
501GM	Rio Rancho	4,433	3,795	638
501GK	Santa Fe	2,376	2,309	67
501GB	Farmington	2,180	2,042	138
501GJ	Durango	1,791	1,761	30
501GI	Alamogordo	1,473	1,404	69
501GD	Gallup	1,322	1,203	119
501GA	Artesia	1,251	1,232	19
501GE	Espanola	933	542	391
501G2	Las Vegas	846	840	6
501GN	Taos	722	712	10
501GH	Truth or Consequences	646	593	53
501GC	Silver City	332	322	10
501HB	Raton	53	51	2

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration