DENVER - The new VA hospital under construction in Aurora is now expected to cost $1 billion more than budgeted.
VA Deputy Secretary Sloan Gibson briefed the Colorado Congressional delegation by phone Tuesday afternoon, saying the new estimated cost for the medical facility will be $1.73 billion. The nine-building medical complex along Colfax Avenue, which replaces the existing VA Medical Center in central Denver, is scheduled for completion in 2017.
"It took my breath away," said Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) when he heard the estimate. Congress had set the spending cap for the replacement VA hospital at $880 million. It was not immediately clear what caused costs to balloon far beyond what Congress or the Administration anticipated.
"It's going to be a tough sell before the Congress to come up with the money," said Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO), a combat veteran. Coffman added there's an "obligation" to finish the hospital "so we can give the kind of health care we've promised to the men and women who served this country."
The Aurora VA hospital project has been plagued by construction delays and cost overruns for years. In December, hospital contractor Kiewit-Turner temporarily walked off the job after a judge found the Veterans Affairs Department to be in breach of contract. Building resumed just before Christmas under a temporary deal, which included the Army Corps of Engineers assuming control of construction management.
Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) called the latest cost estimate "symbolic of the VA's mismanagement of this project, which has been unconscionable and an insult to our veterans and taxpayers."
Rep. Jeff Miller, (R-FL), Chairman of House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, offered a list of "requirements" the VA must meet to gain his approval to finish construction. They include "purging those responsible for the problems in Denver from the VA payroll," and possibly "decreasing the scope of the project or selling it."
Perlmutter said he'd love to see the project scaled back to save costs, and he's open to options to do that. There just don't seem to be good options at this point in the construction.
"There may be a standalone facility or another that can be mothballed," Perlmutter said. "But the VA said to do that would increase the overall cost."
"At the end of the day, we simply can't leave a project half-finished," said Coffman. "So I am going to do everything possible to get it finished."
A Department of Veterans Affairs spokesman confirmed the $1.73 billion estimate, but he made no additional comments Tuesday night.
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