Glenn Haggstrom, the top construction official at the Department of Veterans Affairs, is stepping down amid growing concerns over mismanagement at what’s turning out to be the agency’s most expensive hospital ever.
Haggstrom, the principal executive director of the VA’s Office of Acquisition, Logistics and Construction resigned this week after presiding over a medical center project in Aurora, Colorado that ballooned from an expected $328 million to more than $1.7 billion.
The project for the 182-bed facility began in 2005. In comparison, the University of Colorado Health is slated to build a new 75-bed hospital in Longmont, 30 miles from Denver, that will cost between $100 million and $125 million.
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“The situation regarding the construction of a replacement VA medical center in Aurora, Colorado is unacceptable to Veterans, taxpayers and Department leadership,” the VA said in a statement. “Haggstrom retired from federal service in the midst of an investigation, initiated by VA, into delays and cost overruns associated with the design and construction of the medical center in Aurora.”
Haggstrom joined in the VA in 2008, after close to three decades in other federal jobs, and oversaw four major construction projects -- including the new Colorado hospital -- that exceeded costs by hundreds of millions of dollars. In 2013, the Government Accountability Office found that VA hospital projects in Colorado, Florida, Louisiana and Nevada were both behind schedule and over-budget by an average of $366 million.
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The still-to-be-complete hospital in Aurora, west of Denver, was at the top end of those overruns, with costs that somehow grew by a factor of five.
Project Eagle, as the hospital is dubbed, was based on a design that could be built for under $600 million, Dennis Milsten, VA director of the Office of Construction and Facilities, told the Denver Post. “When we got advice from our construction contractors that the design wasn't buildable for that amount, we chose, unfortunately, to listen to our designer."
The VA actually needs about $930 million more to finish the hospital, and some Congressional lawmakers were pushing for management changes as part of considering the allocation.
Haggstrom “should have been fired years ago, and his ill-gotten bonuses should be rescinded," said U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, a Republican from Aurora, referring to $64,000 in bonuses previously given to the retiring official.
“We've called for the VA to hold those responsible for the years of gross mismanagement of the new regional hospital accountable, and we are glad to see the VA finally doing so," said Colorado’s Democratic Sen.Michael Bennet.
Twitter: @AnthonyBrino