Altoona Times

The James E. Van Zandt Altoona VA Medical Center, subsidiary 503 in Altoona, Pennsylvania scheduled 23,938 pending appointments during the period ending September 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 23,257 had a wait time of 30 days or less (97.2%) and 681 appointments (2.8%) 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.

James E. Van Zandt Altoona VA Medical Center Appointments Scheduled in August

Facility Code	Location	Total Appointments Scheduled	Appointments Scheduled 30 Days or Less	Appointments Scheduled More than 30 Days
503	Altoona	23,938	23,257	681
503GA	Johnstown	6,251	6,163	88
503GB	DuBois	5,579	5,474	105
503GC	State College	5,045	4,988	57
503GE	Indiana	1,382	1,376	6
503GD	Mapleton Depot	1,237	1,227	10

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration