The newly opened state-of-the-art Veterans Affairs hospital in Denver is finally up and running after 14 years of planning and construction, but the project’s final costs put it more than $1 billion over budget, according to a report published Friday.
The Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center includes 12 buildings spread out over 31 acres.
Various presidents and Department of Veterans Affairs secretaries oversaw the long-awaited project, including the ever-increasing cost for the endeavor.
What started as a $328 million undertaking eventually ballooned to $1.73 billion as of this month, according to NBC News.
On top of the pricing issues, the opening dates were regularly missed. Parts of the VA facility were supposed to open in 2013. Five years later, the majority of the center is open, but not all offices have debuted.
The spinal cord injury center is expected to open in February.
Government watchdogs and congressional probes revealed the VA department mismanaged the project. Consequently, Congress moved in 2015 to ban the VA from overseeing any future construction projects of that magnitude.
