A Veterans Administration hospital project that has taken more than a decade to develop and build is nearly complete in Aurora, Colorado.
Construction of the Rocky Mountain Regional Medical Center has been plagued by delays and inaccurate cost estimates. What started out as a $538 million project nine years ago eventually cost $2 billion.
Those problems have sparked national media attention and a Congressional investigation.
Now VA officials say that while the construction part of the project is completed, work on renovations and design corrections most likely won’t be finished until August.
The VA has said that it will contract out for that additional work.
Despite the many problems getting the project to completion, the new facility is already being touted for assets that include three outpatient and two inpatient clinic buildings, a research hub, diagnostic and treatment center, and three parking garages.
A more than 1,000 foot-long concourse runs through the center’s 30-acre site, which is adjacent to the University of Colorado Hospital.
The current VA facility for treating Denver regional veterans is located at 1055 Clermont Street in downtown Denver. That structure was built in 1951 and renovated in 1986.
By Garry Boulard
