A House panel is expected to give a chilly reception Wednesday to Veterans Affairs Department officials who will ask for $830 million in additional funding to finish building a delayed, over-budget hospital project in Aurora, Colo.
The House Veterans' Affairs Committee said the hearing's purpose is “to examine the biggest construction failure in VA history,” hear what the VA is doing “to stop the project's legacy of mismanagement and waste,” and "determine who—if anyone—has been held responsible.”
The cost of the project was initially estimated at $328 million when it was envisioned as a joint venture with the University of Colorado. The VA decided to go it alone and the cost ballooned to $800 million. The estimate recently jumped again, and the project is expected to cost $1.73 billion when completed. It was originally scheduled to open in February 2014. Now officials are hoping to get it done by 2017.
Committee Chair Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) has expressed outrage that VA construction chief Glenn Haggstrom was able to retire last month with a full pension—after collecting more than $60,000 in bonuses—despite delays and cost overruns at Aurora and other pending projects in Las Vegas, New Orleans and Orlando, Fla.
The hearing will be held at 10:30 a.m. EST and will be streamed online at veterans.house.gov.
Denver media outlets report that the VA wants to tap into a $5 billion fund created by the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014. But questions have been raised about whether the law allows the money to be used in this way. Specifically, the law says the money is to be used to hire staff and to improve the VA's “physical infrastructure” to maintain and operate hospitals, nursing homes, domiciliary facilities, and other VA health facilities; to enter into contracts or hire temporary employees to repair, alter, or improve VA facilities; to carry out leases; and “to carry out minor construction projects.”
The office of Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) confirmed that this is what the VA was planning to propose and said he would give it a review.
“The VA is going to propose tapping into the $5 billion fund in the Veterans Choice Act to complete the hospital,” said Adam Bozzi, Bennet's spokesman. “It's encouraging that they're identifying money. But we also want accountability measures and answers to why the cost is so high, where are they going to spend the money, and making sure we're holding everyone responsible for past mistakes.”
A VA representative did not confirm that strategy, but said the project is “vital” to the needs of 390,000 Colorado veterans and the VA is committed to its completion.
“The Department of Veterans Affairs has started discussions with members of Congress to make sure this project has the funding needed to give Colorado veterans the facility they deserve,” the VA representative said. “VA continues work on the proposal that will be sent to Congress requesting further funding. Members of Congress from both parties and from both the House and Senate have been strong and supportive advocates for veterans' healthcare. Moving forward, we will need their support because they are valued partners in this endeavor.”
Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.), whose district includes the Anschutz Medical Campus where the project is being built, has criticized the idea of using Veterans Choice Act funds to pay for the project. “The VA hospital in Aurora must be built but the cost overruns need to be paid for without compromising the reforms, recently passed by Congress, to improve the VA's ability to care for our nation's veterans,” Coffman said in a news release. “Despite scandal after scandal involving VA bureaucrats, they are unwilling to sacrifice a single dime of their bonus money to pay for their mistakes.”
Legislation has been introduced that would use money allocated for VA staff bonuses to pay for the project.
VA Deputy Secretary Sloan Gibson visited the Aurora site April 2 and said that he cannot take disciplinary action against any employee “without evidence that will withstand appeal.” He added that withholding bonuses will punish people who have no connection to the project, including many employees who are veterans themselves.
“I would tell you I think that the bonus idea that's been floated is a lousy idea,” Gibson said during his April 2 visit. “You need to understand, those are bonuses that don't just go to senior folks. Custodians that work in medical centers receive a bonus if it's deserved. Our nurses and our doctors, who have been working to accelerate care, working additional hours, overtime, seeing patients on nights and weekends, they also earned bonuses.”
Gibson will testify at the hearing along with Lloyd Caldwell, director of military programs for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers who have taken over management of the project.
Despite the controversy, the VA continues to plan major new construction projects.
Its medical campus in Canandaigua, N.Y., is scheduled to undergo a $309 million renovation that includes remodeling of three buildings where outpatient and behavioral health services are delivered. Another building is being demolished to make room for a new facility to house primary- and specialty-care services. A contractor is expected to be named this summer.
A ground-breaking ceremony was held April 1 at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System in Seattle where a $152 million mental healthcare and research facility will be built. The six-story, 219,000-square-foot building is scheduled to be completed in 2017.