Capital District Times

The Albany Stratton VA Medical Center, subsidiary 528A8 in Albany, New York scheduled 31,759 pending appointments during the period ending May 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 27,330 had a wait time of 30 days or less (86.1%) and 4,429 appointments (14%) 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
528A8	Albany	31,759	27,330	4,429
528GT	Glens Falls	3,079	2,884	195
528GZ	Kingston	2,006	1,991	15
528GV	Plattsburgh	1,862	1,797	65
528GW	Schenectady	1,742	1,577	165
528GY	Clifton Park	1,540	1,524	16
528G6	Fonda	1,184	1,173	11
528G7	Catskill	1,088	1,021	67
528GX	Troy	937	923	14
528QK	Saranac Lake	579	506	73
528G2	Westport	439	430	9
528G3	Bainbridge	395	367	28

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration