Santa Fe Standard

The VA New Mexico Health Care System in Albuquerque New Mexico scheduled 87,705 pending appointments across its locations during the period ending March 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments 76,921 had a wait time of 30 days or less (87.7%) and 10,784 appointments (12.3%) 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)	65,880	56,600	9,280
Las Vegas, NM	979	940	39
Artesia, NM	1,575	1,512	63
Farmington, NM	2,611	2,418	193
Silver City, NM	815	787	28
Gallup, NM	1,493	1,162	331
Espanola, NM	1,012	825	187
Truth or Consequences, NM	786	776	10
Alamogordo, NM	1,726	1,641	85
Durango, CO	1,813	1,796	17
Santa Fe, NM	2,668	2,575	93
Northwest Metro, NM	5,299	4,888	411
Taos, NM	886	843	43
Raton, NM	162	158	4