The Aurora VA Medical Center project faced delays because of contractor glitches, which cost the federal government nearly $500 million in overruns. (Denver Post 2011 file)
The U.S. House passed a bill aimed at reining in overruns and speeding construction on Veterans Affairs hospital projects Monday night in a unanimous voice vote, U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman’s office said. Coffman sponsored the bill after conducting hearings into overruns on several major projects, including a new VA hospital in Aurora.
Next the bill heads to the Senate, but consideration there likely will come after a month-long congressional recess that begins at the end of the week.
“Once passed into law, this legislation will help get our veterans the healthcare services they have earned,” Coffman said in a statement from his congressional office. He’s running for re-election this fall against Democrat Andrew Romanoff.
The bipartisan bill would set the stage for emergency managers from the Army Corps of Engineers to provide oversight of each of three projects and would make other changes focused on streamlining the change-order process. Besides Aurora, the other affected hospital projects are in New Orleans and Orlando.
