Inquiry finds ‘gross mismanagement’ in costly VA hospital

FILE - In this May 21, 2015 file photo, members of a construction crew work at the site of the Veterans Administration hospital complex under construction in Aurora, Colo. Federal investigators say "gross mismanagement," delays and lax oversight by the Veterans Affairs Department added hundreds of millions of dollars to the cost of a new Denver-area VA hospital and delayed it by years. A report from the department's internal watchdog released Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2016 also said a former senior VA official knew the project was veering toward huge cost overruns but didn't tell lawmakers that when he testified before Congress in 2013 and 2014. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, file) FILE - In this May 21, 2015 file photo, members of a construction crew work at the site of the Veterans Administration hospital complex under construction in Aurora, Colo. Federal investigators say "gross mismanagement," delays and lax oversight by the Veterans Affairs Department added hundreds of millions of dollars to the cost of a new Denver-area VA hospital and delayed it by years. A report from the department's internal watchdog released Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2016 also said a former senior VA official knew the project was veering toward huge cost overruns but didn't tell lawmakers that when he testified before Congress in 2013 and 2014. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, file)

By Associated Press September 21, 2016 3 min read

DENVER (AP) – Gross mismanagement, delays and lax oversight by the Veterans Affairs Department added hundreds of millions of dollars to the cost of a new Denver-area VA hospital, federal investigators said Wednesday.

A report from the department’s internal watchdog also said a former senior VA official, Glenn Haggstrom, knew the project was veering toward huge cost overruns but didn’t tell lawmakers that when he testified before Congress in 2013 and 2014.

That prompted lawmakers to call for a perjury investigation. Haggstrom didn’t immediately return a telephone message seeking comment.

The hospital, now under construction in suburban Aurora, is expected to cost around $1.7 billion, nearly triple the 2014 estimate.

The 184-bed facility is about 70 percent complete and construction is expected to be done in January 2018. It will replace an aging, overcrowded facility still in use in Denver.