NE North Dakota News

The Fargo VA Medical Center, subsidiary 437GI in Grand Forks, North Dakota scheduled 1,066 pending appointments during the period ending March 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 1,050 had a wait time of 30 days or less (98.5%) and 16 appointments (1.5%) 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 who 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
437	Fargo	29,189	27,785	1,404
437GB	Bismarck	1,940	1,877	63
437GE	Bemidji	1,611	1,599	12
437GD	Minot	1,305	1,268	37
437GI	Grand Forks	1,066	1,050	16
437GC	Fergus Falls	708	696	12
437GJ	Dickinson	427	421	6
437GK	Jamestown	314	312	2
437GF	Williston	309	307	2
437GA	Grafton	259	254	5
437GL	Devils Lake	222	221	1

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration