Chico Times

The VA Northern California Health Care System, subsidiary 612GG in Chico, California, scheduled 8,263 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, 7,835 had a wait time of 30 days or less (94.8%) and 428 appointments (5.2%) 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
612A4	Sacramento	37,210	30,471	6,739
612GF	Martinez	17,580	14,552	3,028
612GH	McClellan Park	15,244	12,999	2,245
612GG	Chico	8,263	7,835	428
612B4	Redding	8,030	7,032	998
612GE	Mare Island	5,447	4,721	726
612QC	Cypress Avenue	3,707	2,735	972
612BY	Oakland	3,485	2,828	657
612GD	Fairfield	2,547	2,138	409
612GI	Yuba City	1,772	1,666	106
612QB	Oakland	1,547	1,518	29
612GJ	Yreka	298	281	17
612QD	Howe Road	14	14	0

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration