Ocala Standard

The North Florida/South Georgia VA Health Care System, subsidiary 573GD in Ocala, Florida scheduled 9,997 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, 9,808 had a wait time of 30 days or less (98.1%) and 189 appointments (1.9%) 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.

North Florida/South Georgia VA Health Care System Appointments Scheduled in August

Facility Code	Location	Total Appointments Scheduled	Appointments Scheduled 30 Days or Less	Appointments Scheduled More than 30 Days
573	Gainesville	58,101	54,366	3,735
573BY	Jacksonville	43,854	38,655	5,199
573GI	The Villages	30,495	29,087	1,408
573GF	Tallahassee	26,840	26,068	772
573A4	Lake City	18,386	17,170	1,216
573QG	Jacksonville Southpoint	14,516	13,590	926
573QJ	Jacksonville	11,515	10,874	641
573GD	Ocala	9,997	9,808	189
573GE	Saint Augustine	9,009	8,808	201
573QD	Gainesville	6,615	6,483	132
573QH	Ocala	5,263	4,744	519
573QE	Gainesville	5,005	4,735	270
573GA	Valdosta	4,925	4,808	117
573GJ	St. Marys	4,259	4,081	178
573QK	Lake City	3,782	3,768	14
573GL	Palatka	3,261	3,239	22
573GM	Waycross	3,111	3,092	19
573GK	Marianna	3,008	2,999	9
573GG	Lecanto	2,269	2,264	5
573QC	Gainesville	1,614	1,131	483
573QB	Gainesville 2-98th Street	1,130	1,059	71
573GN	Perry	599	598	1
573QA	Gainesville 1-16th Street	74	73	1
573QF	Gainesville	30	20	10

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration