SW New Mexico News

The VA New Mexico Health Care System, subsidiary 501GI in Alamogordo, New Mexico scheduled 1,633 pending appointments during the period ending January 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 1,535 had a wait time of 30 days or less (94%) and 98 appointments (6%) 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
501	Albuquerque	65,692	56,430	9,262
501GM	Rio Rancho	5,349	4,923	426
501GK	Santa Fe	2,817	2,746	71
501GB	Farmington	2,658	2,355	303
501GA	Artesia	1,750	1,681	69
501GI	Alamogordo	1,633	1,535	98
501GJ	Durango	1,587	1,566	21
501GD	Gallup	1,274	952	322
501G2	Las Vegas	958	935	23
501GN	Taos	924	876	48
501GH	Truth or Consequences	906	894	12
501GE	Espanola	807	708	99
501GC	Silver City	768	744	24
501HB	Raton	566	559	7

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration