NE New Mexico News

The VA New Mexico Health Care System, subsidiary 501HB in Raton, New Mexico scheduled 653 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, 641 had a wait time of 30 days or less (98.2%) and 12 appointments (1.8%) 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 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
501	Albuquerque	66,187	57,398	8,789
501GM	Rio Rancho	5,371	4,946	425
501GK	Santa Fe	3,052	2,979	73
501GB	Farmington	2,686	2,430	256
501GA	Artesia	1,879	1,830	49
501GI	Alamogordo	1,636	1,510	126
501GJ	Durango	1,601	1,581	20
501GD	Gallup	1,207	902	305
501G2	Las Vegas	965	944	21
501GN	Taos	929	899	30
501GH	Truth or Consequences	897	885	12
501GC	Silver City	838	816	22
501GE	Espanola	664	586	78
501HB	Raton	653	641	12

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration