Costs Keep Rising for New Denver VA Hospital
DENVER — With nearly 400,000 veterans in Colorado and neighboring states, it was undeniable that the old and vastly crowded Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities in the state needed to be replaced. Yet, a decade after plans for a huge, new VA hospital near Denver were initially devised, the hospital still remains unfinished and severely over budget.
Although the original budget sat at roughly $328 million, the price tag has now reached an astonishing $1.7 billion, making Denver’s VA one of the priciest hospitals in the world. Three primary factors that have contributed to the massive cost overruns include a low initial estimate, poor planning and repeated delays.
"We need to get this hospital built. There’s no question about that," Colorado Republican congressman Mike Coffman said at a hearing in Denver this spring. Coffman represents Aurora, the city where the hospital is being built.
When deciding how to combat the price of this massive over-budget project, the VA’s first suggestion was to acquire additional funds from the Veterans Choice Act. This program was created by Congress just last year and allows for veterans to be seen by private doctors if they’ve waited too long for care at VA facilities. However, Congressional leaders stepped in and disapproved of this idea, forbidding the VA to access any of the program’s funds.
This year, the VA has a budget of more than $160 billion, making it one most heavily funded government departments. The Denver hospital is just one of many issues where Congress and the VA have been disputing over how the department is being run.
"This [additional] cost has to come out of VA’s hide," Coffman said at the spring hearing. "They must be stripped of their management over construction.”
Given the current situation, the VA has been left two options, according to Stella Fiotes, who directs construction for the VA. The first, is to implement an across the board cut of about .9 percent, which would trim all VA discretionary spending.
The second option includes taking away funds from other VA construction ventures, halting alternative projects across the country. Congress is currently considering the benefits and drawbacks of each option.
Regardless of their decision, in an attempt to have the hospital completed in a more timely manner, the Army Corps of Engineers has been transferred control over hospital construction management. The new veterans medical center in Colorado should be ready in 2017 — given that additional funding can be approved and provided.