500,000 Rocky Mountain Veterans get shafted

Hospital cutbacks spark outrage among veterans
The planned Aurora medical center would treat 500,000 in the Rocky Mountain region.
By Jessica Fender
The Denver Post

Article Last Updated: 07/20/2008 11:41:22 PM MDT


Colorado veterans who want their own hospital rallied near the state Capitol on Sunday, incensed by a recently released report that shows potential budget overruns led Veterans Affairs officials to scale back plans for an Aurora medical facility.

The cutbacks announced in April left the embattled medical center at the Fitzsimons campus — originally envisioned as a self-sufficient hospital — sharing space and resources with the University of Colorado. The impact on services is unclear, but it first appeared the hospital would serve fewer spinal cord injury patients.

Veterans and congressional leaders pointed out Sunday that years of delays and revisions have helped inflate construction costs for their ideal hospital to more than $1 billion. The scaled-back version apparently meets the more than $700 million budget.
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