North Baltimore Journal

The VA Maryland Health Care System, subsidiary 512GF in Rosedale, Maryland, scheduled 1,103 pending appointments during the period ending March 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 1,058 had a wait time of 30 days or less (95.9%) and 45 appointments (4.1%) were scheduled more than 30 days out.

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in January 2019 reported 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.

However, the Government Accountability Office released a report in July 2019 cautinging 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 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
512	Baltimore	32,194	27,452	4,742
512A5	Perry Point	5,634	5,275	359
512GD	Baltimore	3,412	3,157	255
512GA	Cambridge	3,089	2,996	93
512GC	Glen Burnie	2,174	2,063	111
512GG	Fort Meade	1,312	1,232	80
512GF	Rosedale	1,103	1,058	45
512GE	Pocomoke City	631	616	15
512QA	Baltimore West Fayette Street	629	560	69
512PA	512PA	28	28	0

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration