Inquiry finds ‘gross mismanagement’ in costly VA hospital
DENVER — 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.