Portage Times

The Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, subsidiary 541GK in Ravenna, Ohio scheduled 5,128 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, 4,839 had a wait time of 30 days or less (94.4%) and 289 appointments (5.6%) 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
541	Cleveland	62,793	59,161	3,632
541GL	Parma	26,291	24,460	1,831
541GG	Akron	20,168	18,909	1,259
541BY	Canton	16,047	15,702	345
541GD	Mansfield	12,952	12,752	200
541BZ	Youngstown	11,779	11,432	347
541GF	Willoughby	11,229	10,875	354
541GB	Lorain	11,069	10,911	158
541GC	Sandusky	7,440	7,186	254
541GK	Ravenna	5,128	4,839	289
541GJ	New Philadelphia	4,939	4,819	120
541GH	East Liverpool	4,542	4,502	40
541GI	Warren	4,243	4,082	161
541GE	Cleveland	1,439	1,405	34
541QB	Cleveland	1,073	1,062	11
541QF	Cuyahoga County 4	375	320	55
541GM	Cleveland	29	24	5
541QA	Summit County	11	11	0

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration