Dive Brief:
- New estimates put the cost of the Department of Veterans Affairs medical center under construction in Aurora, Colo. at $1.73 billion--more than five times its original estimated price of $328 million.
- The site is one of four VA hospital projects that are now both behind schedule and over budget, according to a report all the way back to 2013 from the Government Accountability Office. The three other sites are in Las Vegas, Orlando and New Orleans.
- The Aurora hospital has now become the most expensive in the VA's history.
Dive Insight:
Coming in more than $1 billion over budget has brought a storm of criticism from Congress, which is being asked to authorize the final $930 million required to complete the project.
The VA risks losing oversight of the construction to the Army Corps of Engineers, which has already been called in to act in an advisory role.
In addition, the VA is coming under fire from Congress over the bonuses provided to the executives in charge of these problem-riddled projects, which totaled $22 million over the past six years, television station KDVR in Denver reported.
There is a clear need for the Aurora facility, which is replacing a World War II-era facility in order to serve the large Denver-area population of 83,000 veterans.