The United States Department of Veterans Affairs is constructing a new state-of-the-art, 1.1 million square foot Veterans Affairs campus consisting of inpatient hospital beds, a community living center, a spinal cord injury center and outpatient services. The total cost of the new facility is $800 million (additional money will be needed to furnish the buildings) and construction is slated to begin in May 2011 with a completion of February 2014. The Veterans Affairs campus will be located at the Anschutz Medical Campus and Fitzsimons Life Sciences District in Aurora. Colorado’s Congressional delegation, in addition to business and civic leaders and veterans organizations have lobbied for nearly 15 years for a new hospital. The campus will employ a minimum of 1,800 full time employees.The Department of Veterans Affairs will also create new Health Care Centers, which provide ambulatory care and same-day surgical services, in Colorado Springs, Colo., and Billings, Mont. The Colorado Springs facility will be managed in collaboration with the Department of Defense. The Department of Veterans Affairs also plans to add eight new health care facilities in rural areas throughout the region.The Veterans Administration is in the first stage of the site evaluation process and has initiated a formal Environmental Assessment (EA) of Kane Ranch for a new VA cemetery. The EA is anticipated to take four to five months to complete, once a contract is awarded. VA staff met with El Paso county officials and confirmed the Kane Ranch property could be transferred to VA through a donation and with no covenants or restrictions.
For a full description of Accelerate Colorado's Veteran Affairs Asks and Background, please click on the full report in the Download section.