Santa Fe Standard

The VA New Mexico Health Care System in Albuquerque New Mexico scheduled 87,677 pending appointments across its locations during the period ending September 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments 78,550 had a wait time of 30 days or less (89.59%) and 9,127 appointments (10.41%) 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)	65,018	57,113	7,905
Las Vegas, NM	963	945	18
Artesia, NM	1,856	1,800	56
Farmington, NM	2,566	2,399	167
Silver City, NM	855	821	34
Gallup, NM	1,252	1,194	58
Espanola, NM	688	640	48
Truth or Consequences, NM	986	973	13
Alamogordo, NM	1,498	1,302	196
Durango, CO	1,845	1,821	24
Santa Fe, NM	3,166	3,049	117
Northwest Metro, NM	5,444	5,024	420
Taos, NM	951	886	65
Raton, NM	589	583	6