Ranking Member Walz Opening Statement: Full Committee Hearing On The Denver Replacement Medical Center
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Tim Walz (D-MN) gave the following opening statement as the Committee met in open session to conduct an oversight hearing on the replacement Denver VA Medical Facility.
Ranking Member Walz Opening Statement As Prepared For Delivery
Veterans have been waiting over 15 years for a replacement VA hospital and now it finally appears that Colorado veterans will have a state of the art facility this summer. We are all intimately familiar with the history of this project and the schedule and cost overruns that required Congress to take action on more than one occasion.
I think it’s important that we apply the lessons all of us have learned from this project and apply these lessons and the Army Corps’ model for project management to future VA super construction projects.
Now that the facility will be turned over to VA this month for activation, VA needs to ensure it is able to adhere to the activation schedule so veterans can start receiving care at their new facility this summer. I want assurance that VA has the staff and resources to open on time. I want VA to ensure it is working closely with the Army Corps to complete construction.
My greatest concern is whether VA has the infrastructure in place to meet the needs of veterans in Colorado and its neighboring states. We know that veterans receiving their care at the Denver VAMC experience some of the longest wait times in the country. Due to the significant cost overruns for this project, the much needed PTSD residential treatment facility was not constructed and additional funds will be needed to build this facility on the Aurora campus. Seven primary care teams will continue to operate out of the existing Denver facility along with the community living center for the next three years.
Solutions are needed to address these significant infrastructure and capacity needs so veterans do not continue to wait for care. I hope that VA has come prepared to discuss some solutions today and is prepared to work with Congress, the State of Colorado, and the City of Denver to address the health care needs of the veterans in the community.
Thank you, Chairman Roe and I yield back.
Background
The Denver replacement hospital has experienced large cost overruns and delays since the project was first conceived in the early 2000s. In 2010, VA awarded the construction contract to Kiewit-Turner (K-T) for $604 million with an estimated completion date of April 2015. As a result of design problems, contract disputes, and VA’s poor oversight of the project, the total cost of the project has risen to $1.675 billion with a completion date of January 25, 2018. In September 2015 Congress increased the authorization for the project from $1.1 billion to $1.675 billion to complete construction. The new authorization reflects the cost for the U.S. Army Corps of engineers to take over management of the project. VA recently announced that Kiewit-Turner will complete construction and turn over the facility to VA on January 25.
###
Next Article Previous Article