In the News

Outside the Denver Veterans Hospital, a few blocks off 9th and Colorado, the beautiful February weather has coaxed veterans outside and into the sunshine. Some smoke, others chat and then, there are those who head to the nearby food cart to grab a bite.

The nearly 70 degree temperatures have brought outside multiple generations of warriors, some whose wars were fought in what seems like a lifetime ago. Some proudly wear ballcaps bearing their service branch insignia. For others, its windbreakers or tee shirts with distinctive military logo. No matter their age, this band of brothers along with a growing number of sisters has served their country.

Even though it is the end of the week, the hospital is busy. Because the hospital is familiar ground, most here today know the drill. Down the hall to the right for prescriptions; through the double doors for non-scheduled emergency visits; Seventh floor for this; Fifth floor for that; cafeteria, past the chapel.

While the facility runs efficiently, there is nothing here that reflects the 21st century. It is a building where the sunlight overwhelms in some places, is non-existent in others. A quick scan reflects a hospital that was built for efficiency, not for comfort.

The facility was also built for what was hoped would be protracted peace. But for more than a decade – and for a growing number of veterans – peace has been elusive. Two protracted conflicts have spawned an unforeseen veterans’ population boom and necessitated the building of a new Veterans Hospital in Aurora. And that is where another war, of sorts, is underway.

At the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora a new VA hospital is slowly taking shape. Originally budgeted for $400 million, the facility’s costs have ballooned. It is now estimated that when finished – projected for sometime in 2017 – the price tag will exceed a billion dollars, also a number that without thoughtful oversight may actually sneak past that waterline.

“On a scale of one to ten – ten being worst – I’m at about 9.5,” says Colorado Congressman Mike Coffman of his anger and frustration with the fiscal mismanagement he’s seen firsthand at the still unfinished VA facility.

And though cost overruns are serious – and a 150 percent cost overrun from its original $400 million projection is really serious – there is also another front where veterans are doing battle. Veterans seeking help at this facility are enduring waits that exceed the national average.

A recent VA study says waits for appointments in Denver are nearly twice the national average. Even more shocking is that wait times in Denver, along with its smaller VA sites, including Aurora and Jefferson County, are longer than those in 90 percent of regional facilities across the nation.

“I’ve been lucky,” says Vietnam-era veteran, Chuck, who asked only his first name be used. “I got in a lot sooner than I thought I would.” A Navy veteran, Chuck says he’s not unhappy with the treatment he gets. “But it sure would be nice to get in quicker or see a doctor closer to home.” He says he lives “about 40 miles outside Denver.”

Delays in veterans seeing doctors came to a head in 2014 when it was found that waits in Phoenix were not only long but may have also caused the deaths of dozens of veterans. While an exact number of deaths remains uncertain or even if it was delays that were cause of death, what is clear is that the Phoenix scandal cost then Secretary of Veterans Affairs, General Eric Shinseki his job, along with those of a number of high ranking hospital administrators.

Coffman, whose Sixth District will be home to the new hospital, is also upset that high ranking VA officials, including hospital administrators, continue to keep their jobs in light of such poor performances. He is also angry that, in some cases, more than a few still collect bonuses for performances that are clearly substandard. He would like to see a system that makes it easier for unqualified or simply inept personnel to more easily be fired.

But Coffman’s issue with the VA goes deeper than those of a Congressman witnessing red ink or the kind of mismanagement that keeps veterans from getting timely health care. He says he’s angry because he can easily put himself in the shoes of the veterans whose medical lifeline is the VA.

Coffman’s own military career began as a 17-year-old who left high school in Aurora and joined the Army. It was while he was in the Army that he adapted its discipline and order to his own life. He made good use of these tools.

After leaving the Army, Coffman attended and graduated from the University of Colorado on the GI Bill. He remained in the Army Reserve and later transitioned into the Marines where he retired at the rank of Major.

Last spring, Coffman held Congressional hearings in Denver to address the slew of issues that have put the hospital project behind schedule and over budget. One of the most basic but biggest complaints comes from Kiewit-Turner, the project’s prime contractor.

The contractor says it has routinely dealt with design changes that have challenged and bloated the budget. Among its complaints are MRI and CAT scan labs that have had to be completely redesigned. Coffman says he was told by KT, “We had to reverse course and start from scratch.” In some cases, these mistakes put the project “up to a year behind.” Still, delays, confusion, mismanagement, all have contributed to push the facility’s grand opening to 2017.

Late last year, the frustration level reached a tipping point when KT threatened to shut down the job and walk off the site because of its problems with VA mismanagement and also because of costs. The company says it spent up to $100 million of its own money to keep the project moving. Had it taken that action, more than 1,400 workers would have been out of a job. Both issues have been resolved and the project continues.

To ensure that the job is more responsibly managed, Coffman, who is also Chairman of the House Veterans Oversight Subcommittee, has taken the VA out of the equation and placed ultimate responsibility in the hands of the Army Corps of Engineers.

Making this decision easier for the government is the fact that, according to Coffman, each of the four VA hospitals now under construction across the country is also seriously over budget. “It’s mismanagement at a catastrophic level.”

The VA report showing Denver and Colorado veterans, of which there are more than 300,000 now using military healthcare, not getting prompt appointment is also being addressed by Coffman. To ensure veterans not deal with interminable waits for appointments, Coffman wants to allow them to be able to contract with private health care and get reimbursement.

The three-term Congressman, who has also served in the Colorado legislature, as well as winning elections for state Treasurer and Colorado Secretary of State, says veterans deserve more than simple recognition for wearing the uniform. Coffman says when these men and women answered the call to serve their country, they made a great sacrifice. “We owe them.”

What will make the former Army enlisted man and Marine Major happy? For starters, Coffman would like to see a complete overhaul of the current VA system. Short of that, the VA “will see me on a weekly basis.” As a veterans sub-committee chairman, Coffman says, “I will continue to keep the pressure on and hold their feet to the fire until veterans get the care they deserve.”