The fate of the yet to be constructed and eagerly anticipated veterans hospital at the Fitzsimons campus in Aurora has sparked widespread speculation by the media, and a pandering rush by Members of Congress to appear as “pro-veteran” as possible without taking some time to look at the big picture.
The roots of this project go back to 1999 and the establishment of the VA’s Capitol Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES) process; which sought to evaluate infrastructure needs and prioritize them. The CARES plan was submitted to Congress by former VA Secretary Principi in 2004.
Under this plan, a future veterans hospital at the Fitzsimons Campus was identified as a top priority.
Since that time we have had multiple Secretaries of Veterans Affairs and even more plans and subsequent amended versions for this hospital. Throughout this long and sometimes frustrating process, we have all sought to better serve our veterans.
As a public figure that has gone on record to demand that the administration ‘just build the damn thing’, nobody wants this project completed more than I do. The question is the way in which we go about achieving this end.
Recently, members of the Colorado Congressional delegation and some veteran’s organizations have sent letters to Secretary of Veterans Affairs Peake.
These letters dictate what is acceptable in their eyes: The creation of an autonomous, stand alone VA facility.
I am not one to argue against veterans receiving the best medical care. While these letters look good at first glance, they could prove more detrimental in our cause to completing this project than they are beneficial.
These letters adopt an authoritative tone in which Congressional Members and veterans organizations are dictating to the Veterans Administration what is acceptable and what is not.
If they do not agree with the end result and receive precisely what they requested, the veiled threat of active opposition and hindrance to the project’s completion is present. This take it or leave it attitude has been very troubling for me.
There is no reason that we should not examine more cost effective ways to complete this hospital while still providing our veterans with top flight medical care.
At a price tag exceeding one billion dollars, the project as it is currently comprised will have difficulty obtaining the necessary funds and gaining a completed status.
The problem with recent efforts by members of Congress and some of the bureaucrats inside the Veterans Administration is that the only acceptable plan is the one-size-fits-all, New Deal style stand alone VA hospital. They do not accept the fact that there may be a more cost effective and a better way to go about things in the 21st century.
One of the main bones of contention is that they believe the VA must possess its own autonomous hospital. They argue with great fervor that they will not be relegated to leasee status by the University.
While I disagree with the negative connotation they have attached to it, I fail to see how working in cooperation with the University of Colorado could be viewed negatively.
This cooperative effort would drive down the cost of the physical structure and free up capital for its most important purpose, treating our brave men and women.
In fact, there was a time when this approach enjoyed the full-throated support of many of the same veterans groups that are now demanding a stand alone facility. Go figure.
All of us want our servicemen and women to have access to world-class, state-of-the-art health care facilities.
And to do that, we must come together and find common ground. And we can’t do that unless we keep all of the options on the table.
Maybe a stand alone facility is what we will ultimately be left with – but why rule out a co-located hi-tech shared facility with the University of Colorado just because it doesn’t fit the old VA bureaucracy’s preferred model – especially if this novel approach might mean better care for our veterans?
When we ask the VA, “Why are we doing it this way?” when it comes to a new Denver VA facility, we owe our veterans a better answer than “Because that’s the way we’ve always done it.”
Republican Tom Tancredo represents Colorado’s 6th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.
