Santa Fe Standard

The VA New Mexico Health Care System in Albuquerque New Mexico scheduled 86,252 pending appointments across its locations during the period ending August 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments 77,643 had a wait time of 30 days or less (90.02%) and 8,609 appointments (9.98%) were scheduled more than 30 days out.

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in January 2019 reported 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 cautioning 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.

Debra Draper, health care director at the GAO, told the House Veterans Affairs Committee new patients may actually wait up to 70 days for an appointment when they first enroll for benefits.

The VA explains 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 don’t have service-connected disabilities and who earn a higher income are placed in the lower priority groups.

Location	Total Appointments Scheduled	Appointments Scheduled 30 Days or Less	Appointments Scheduled More than 30 Days
Albuquerque, NM (Raymond G. Murphy)	64,097	56,602	7,495
Las Vegas, NM	928	911	17
Artesia, NM	1,649	1,602	47
Farmington, NM	2,400	2,284	116
Silver City, NM	869	838	31
Gallup, NM	1,205	1,177	28
Espanola, NM	759	710	49
Truth or Consequences, NM	1,061	1,045	16
Alamogordo, NM	1,484	1,249	235
Durango, CO	1,954	1,929	25
Santa Fe, NM	3,011	2,913	98
Northwest Metro, NM	5,366	4,996	370
Taos, NM	926	851	75
Raton, NM	543	536	7