FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FRIDAY APRIL 17, 2015
Contact: Amanda Maddox (Isakson), 202-224-7777 Josh Zembik (Blumenthal), 202-224-6452 |
Isakson, Blumenthal Call for Investigation of Outrageous Construction Costs at Colorado VA Hospital
Demand answers on project now $1 billion over budget
WASHINGTON –
U.S. Senators Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.,
chairman and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Veterans’
Affairs, respectively, this week wrote to the Office of the Inspector
General at the Department of Veterans Affairs requesting they commence
an independent investigation into the Denver VA Hospital and its cost
overruns and delays. The letter asks that the Inspector General’s office
examine the entire construction process, from identifying facility
design elements to contract and project management to project cost and
schedule development.
On Tuesday, March 17, 2015, the VA
announced that the latest cost estimates for the medical center project,
developed in consultation with the Army Corps of Engineers, had reached
$1.73 billion, more than $1 billion over the project’s original budget.
The senators also released the following
statement after VA officials proposed using money from a one-time $5
billion fund to pay for the remaining costs of the Denver VA Hospital.
Those funds were originally approved by Congress to address the issue of
unacceptable patient wait-times in order to improve access to patient
care within the VA by increasing clinician staffing and improving
medical facilities.
“It is disappointing to learn that the
VA is proposing to use funds from the Veterans’ Choice Act to pay for
cost overruns at the Denver replacement medical center – construction
cost overruns that were predominately caused by gross mismanagement and a
lack of accountability within the VA. We are also very disappointed
that it has taken this long for the VA to address this issue and by the
VA’s lack of communication with the committee on this proposal. It is
difficult for us to assess the merits of any proposal without being
provided critical details, an analysis of alternatives, and necessary
supplemental information.”
To address the VA’s mismanagement of this
project, the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs will visit the
construction site and hold an oversight hearing on Friday, April 24,
2015, in Aurora, Colorado.
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The Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs is chaired by U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., in the 114th Congress.
Isakson is a veteran himself – having
served in the Georgia Air National Guard from 1966-1972 – and has been a
member of the Senate VA Committee since he joined the Senate in 2005.
Isakson’s home state of Georgia is home to more than a dozen military
installations representing each branch of the military as well as more
than 750,000 veterans.