Santa Fe Standard

The VA New Mexico Health Care System in Albuquerque New Mexico scheduled 81,735 pending appointments across its locations during the period ending January 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments 72,255 had a wait time of 30 days or less (88.4%) and 9,480 appointments (11.6%) 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)	61,550	53,388	8,162
Las Vegas, NM	882	853	29
Artesia, NM	961	933	28
Farmington, NM	2,087	1,824	263
Silver City, NM	402	364	38
Gallup, NM	1,222	1,139	83
Espanola, NM	1,130	1,089	41
Truth or Consequences, NM	1,058	1,040	18
Alamogordo, NM	1,390	1,274	116
Durango, CO	1,870	1,801	69
Santa Fe, NM	2,937	2,765	172
Northwest Metro, NM	4,889	4,495	394
Taos, NM	944	895	49
Raton, NM	412	394	18
IDES Kirtland AFB	1	1	0