VA Health Care: Effects of Facility Realignment on Construction Needs Are Unknown
HEHS-96-19
Published: Nov 17, 1995. Publicly Released: Nov 17, 1995.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional staff request, GAO provided information on nine proposed Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA) construction projects, focusing on: (1) the projects' benefits to veterans; (2) VA efforts to realign all of its facilities into new service networks; and (3) the potential effects of funding delays an VA contract award dates and costs.
Recommendations
Matter for Congressional Consideration
| Matter | Status | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Congress may wish to consider delaying funding for all major VA construction projects until VA has completed its criteria for assessing alternatives to such projects and applied the criteria to projects that it proposes for congressional authorization and funding. If it wants to avoid significant delays of construction awards for projects that are ultimately justified under pending VA assessment criteria, Congress may wish to make design funds available in FY 1996 for the proposed projects. | Congress delayed or reduced funding for seven of the nine major construction projects in VA's FY 1996 budget. Full funding was provided to renovate the other two projects, the Boston, Massachusetts, and Reno, Nevada, facilities. Instead of $154.7 million requested for a new medical center at Brevard, Florida, and $188.5 million to complete the joint VA/Air Force project at Travis Air Force Base near Fairfield, California, Congress included only $7.8 million and $25 million, respectively, for outpatient clinics. Congress also denied funding of $80.1 million requested for five other major projects. |
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Public Inquiries
Topics
Construction costsCost effectiveness analysisFacility repairsGovernment facility constructionHealth resources utilizationHospital care servicesHospital planningSchedule slippagesVeterans hospitalsConstruction