Baltimore City Wire

The VA Maryland Health Care System, subsidiary 512GD in Baltimore, Maryland, scheduled 3,309 pending appointments during the period ending December 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 2,985 had a wait time of 30 days or less (90.2%) and 324 appointments (9.8%) 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 earn a higher income are placed in the lower priority groups.

Facility Code	Location	Total Appointments Scheduled	Appointments Scheduled 30 Days or Less	Appointments Scheduled More than 30 Days
512	Baltimore	28,370	24,192	4,178
512A5	Perry Point	5,343	4,950	393
512GD	Baltimore	3,309	2,985	324
512GA	Cambridge	2,618	2,537	81
512GC	Glen Burnie	1,517	1,339	178
512GG	Fort Meade	828	731	97
512GF	Rosedale	806	794	12
512QA	Baltimore West Fayette Street	516	502	14
512GE	Pocomoke City	477	467	10

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration