FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Wednesday, March 11, 2015
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Curt Cashour (Miller), 202-225-3527
Josh Zembik (Blumenthal), 202-224-6452
David Simon (Brown), 202-225-0123
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House, Senate Leaders Call for Answers on Construction Delays, Cost Overruns at Colorado VA Hospital
WASHINGTON
– Leaders of the House and Senate Committees on Veterans’ Affairs this
week called on the Department of Veterans
Affairs to address the ongoing problems that have plagued the
replacement Denver VA Medical Center hospital, including mismanagement
that has led to hundreds of millions in cost overruns and repeated
delays.
In a
letter to VA Secretary Robert McDonald, Sens. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga. and
Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., chairman and ranking member of the Senate
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, respectively, along
with Reps. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., and Corrine Brown, D-Fla., chairman and
ranking member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs,
respectively, requested a detailed analysis of the project’s
construction costs and updates on efforts to hold those responsible
for the cost overruns and delays accountable.
“It
is crucial that we get answers from Secretary McDonald about his plans
to address these issues surrounding the construction cost overruns and
serious schedule delays at the Denver VA Medical
Center,” said Isakson, chairman of the
Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.
“First and foremost, we must ensure the veterans of Colorado are
provided for, and completion of the project is critical in providing
necessary care and support. We must also get to the bottom of what went
wrong
here and hold accountable the VA and those responsible for the gross
mismanagement of this construction project. As one of my top priorities
to bring oversight directly to the VA, I intend to make Denver one of
the next in a series of VA site visits and field
hearings conducted by the Senate VA committee.”
“Months after the biggest
construction failure in VA history, and weeks before work is yet again
set to stop on the replacement Denver VA medical center, the department
hasn’t provided Congress
the information required to get the effort back on track,” said Rep. Jeff Miller, Chairman, House Committee on Veterans Affairs.
“Since the project’s inception, the cost of the hospital
has ballooned from $328 million to $800 million, and now it looks as if
the price tag could top $1 billion. Absent a VA plan to hold the
employees responsible for this massive failure accountable and ensure
the project is completed in a timely fashion, authorizing
any more money for this project would simply be irresponsible. We are
committed to ensuring all veterans receive the best health care
possible. But in order for that to happen, VA must put forth a plan to
solve its construction challenges once and for all.
That hasn’t happened yet.”
"Veterans in Denver and the
surrounding area deserve the best medical care available in the
state-of-the-art facility they were promised years and years ago—delays
and mismanagement of the construction
for the replacement VA Medical Center are simply unacceptable,” said Blumenthal, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.
“Secretary McDonald must be more transparent
regarding the ongoing issues that led to these delays and cost
overruns, and any actions the VA is taking to prevent them on future
projects. Further, the American public, particularly our nation’s
veterans, deserve to know who is responsible and what will
be done to remedy these serious issues. As Ranking Member of the Senate
Veterans Affairs Committee, I will continue to call on the Secretary to
make good on his promise of transparency and accountability at the VA."
“As the Ranking Member on the House
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, I urge the VA to immediately address the
serious issues concerning funding at the Denver VA Medical Center,”
said Rep. Corrine Brown, Ranking Member, House Committee on Veterans Affairs.
“We must ensure that America’s veterans, who have made tremendous
sacrifices for our great nation, receive the best care available from
our VA medical facilities. I am confident
that under the leadership of Secretary McDonald, the Department of
Veterans Affairs is capable of bringing a quick resolution to the
management problems at this facility. Along with my colleagues on the
committee, I will be vigilant in ensuring that the VA
carries out this important task.”
The group has requested a response from Secretary McDonald no later than Monday, March 16, 2015.
Full text of the letter is provided below, and the letter can also be viewed online
here.
March 10, 2015
The Honorable Robert A. McDonald
Secretary
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
810 Vermont Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20240
Dear Secretary McDonald:
The
VA notified Congress in responses to House Veterans’ Affairs Committee
pre-hearing questions for the February 11, 2015 budget hearing, that it
would need an interim increase in the funding authorization
cap and a reprogramming of about $200 to $240 million from other VA
projects to continue construction of the replacement Denver VA Medical
Center. Work on this project is estimated to cease on March 29, 2015,
without additional funding. As you are aware,
Congress originally authorized and appropriated $800 million to build
the replacement Denver VA Medical Center. To date, you have provided
Congress no report on the need for a cap increase, any analysis for the
cost overruns or updates on efforts to hold properly
accountable those responsible. To consider any further funding
authorization cap increase and reprogramming request, we ask that you
respond to the following questions:
1.
We
have been informed that, as of February 26, VA has already reprogrammed
over $56 million from other sources to accommodate some of the
additional
funds that will be needed to complete the project in Denver. Please
identify any other sources of funds in addition to the $56 million which
have been reprogrammed to date.
2.
Please
identify any further reprogramming you may request, the specific
facilities impacted and the amount of funding from each facility. Also,
identify
what delays, if any, will be associated with the reprogramming of funds
from these other facilities.
3.
Please
provide the Committees with an update on the progress of the
administrative investigation board review that was convened in January
to investigate
mismanagement and misconduct concerning the replacement Denver VA
Medical Center. This progress report should also include a timeline and
summary of actions that VA has taken to ensure accountability in this
matter including but not limited to the convening
of the administrative investigation board, information on when you
anticipate the administrative investigation board will complete its
work, and when subsequent disciplinary actions, as appropriate, could be
expected. In the case of serious misconduct by
senior executives, we fully expect the Department to take action using
the enhanced authority that Congress has provided in Public Law 113-146,
“Choice Act.” Once the investigation is completed, we expect you to
provide the Committees with a list of who has
been, or will be, held accountable for the problems that occurred on
this project. Please include the names of the individuals, the
reasoning behind the decision to hold each accountable, and what
employment actions will be taken against them.
4.
Further,
the Committees understand that the Army Corps of Engineers is
conducting an independent detailed examination of VA’s major
construction programs
in order to make recommendations that can improve processes,
structures, and controls related to project delivery and oversight.
Please provide the Committee with an update on this review, with
specific regard to the replacement Denver VA Medical Center.
We ask that you respond to these
questions and provide any additional information you have concerning the
status of the replacement Denver VA Medical Center by no later than
Monday, March 16, 2015.
Thank you for your prompt consideration to our request.
Sincerely,
Jeff Miller
Johnny Isakson
Richard Blumenthal
Corrine Brown
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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.
AMANDA MADDOX
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Press Secretary
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OFFICE OF UNITED STATES SENATOR JOHNNY ISAKSON
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131 Russell Senate Office Building | Washington, DC 20510
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phone: 202.224.3643
| fax: 202.228.0724
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veterans
