The Department of Veterans Affairs is assuring congressional leaders that its troubled Aurora hospital project is not in imminent danger of another construction shutdown.
In a letter to the House and Senate appropriations and veterans’ affairs committees, VA Secretary Robert McDonald wrote that his department plans to “reprogram” $43.3 million from three other projects to keep construction going through May.
The department recently shifted $56 million to the Aurora hospital. So the VA is now committing $899 million toward its completion, up from $800 million.
“This reprogramming is essential to support VA’s interim contract with Kiewit-Turner to ensure the Denver replacement medical center project continues in the near term,” McDonald wrote. “Significant additional funding will be required when the Army Corps of Engineers has determined the estimate for project completion, and VA will advise Congress as to this final estimated cost once it is available.”
McDonald said the extra money would pay for construction through the end of May, and that the VA would work with Congress to find additional sources of money to finish the job. This week, congressional leaders warned that the project could run out of money and shut down by the end of this month.
The VA told Congress last month that money would run out about March 29. “If additional funds are not added to the contract, VA will be forced to stop work on the site and begin to demobilize the contractor,” the agency said.
Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Aurora, questioned McDonald’s assurances, saying that in April the project will hit the $880 million spending cap authorized by Congress. Work would stop at that point without action from lawmakers, he said.
Members of the Colorado delegation have proposed raising the spending maximum for the hospital to $1.1 billion.
McDonald wrote that the $43 million needed to keep construction going will come from savings realized from three projects nearing completion and predicted “no impact” by shifting money from them to Aurora.
The money would be taken from a medical center consolidation in Pittsburgh and two projects in Seattle — a mental health facility and “seismic corrections” to a nursing tower and community living center.
The hospital project is years behind schedule and expected to cost at least $400 million more than its original budget. Kiewit-Turner, which shut down construction in December for want of payment, also issued a reassuring statement Thursday. “We are confident that Congress and the VA will address the necessary funding and authority issues,” spokesman Tom Janssen said.
David Olinger: 303-954-1498, dolinger@denverpost.com or twitter.com/dolingerdp
