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VA, CU haggle over site for center

Visions differ for use of Fitzsimons land By Javier Erik Olvera, Rocky Mountain News January 11, 2005 Entering a series of critical meetings today, top officials with the University of Colorado Hospital and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs gave markedly different accounts of how they arrived at an impasse over the concept for a medical complex at the old Fitzsimons Army Medical Center. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony Principi said Monday that he never intended to share space with the University of Colorado Hospital and always envisioned a stand-alone medical complex ever since discussions began about four years ago. But a free-standing VA medical complex was never on the table, according to CU Hospital President and Chief Executive Officer Dennis Brimhall, who believed the side-by- side facilities would share space to reduce the amount of acreage needed. The issue could come to a head during meetings between the VA's general counsel Tim McClain and several Fitzsimons landowners as they search for a large-enough site to build the 1.4 million-square-foot VA complex. Failure to reach an agreement could mean the VA would have to look elsewhere near Fitzsimons for the land or possibly renovate its problem-plagued 53-year-old hospital in Denver. Principi is hopeful that the VA can reach an agreement with the Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority, one of the old military medical center's two largest landholders with about 160 of the 570 acres along Colfax Avenue and Peoria Street in Aurora. "I am committed to build a new medical center and hope to find some common ground with the Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority," said Principi, reached Monday in Washington, D.C. "I've got the money and we're ready to go." Aurora Mayor Ed Tauer sits as chairman of the authority's board and says it's highly unlikely that they can come up with the estimated 40 acres that VA designers believe they need to build the multilevel complex. "At the end of the day, it's the VA that decided it didn't want the (original) land," said Tauer. He added that the size of the site did not change since discussions began and that there's no longer any free land at the campus. In December, Principi determined the proposed site - approximately 12.5 buildable acres - wasn't large enough for the estimated $400 million VA complex. Prior to that, the main concern the VA expressed was whether it could get a lease of up to 75 years. "Unbeknownst to me, the size was too small," said Principi, adding that he always believed the VA had a much larger site to build and didn't know until designers measured it a few months ago. Brimhall disagrees, saying the original acreage offered by the CU Hospital to the VA was never large because they planned to share labs, operating rooms and administrative space. Principi agrees that sharing was part of the original discussions, but said he believed it was for services and not for space because the VA's intention has always been for "a free-standing hospital." He said he's a strong believer in shared services, but that doesn't mean they would have "a shell" or "bed tower" that relies on other agencies to give medical care to their client base. "How can I be held accountable to another entity that's not federal?" Principi said. He added that he's sure the issues will be resolved. The new hospital would replace the aging VA medical facility in Denver that's been at the center of controversy since the recent release of a report that showed squalid conditions and one death due to a fungal infection. Principi said he wants to build at Fitzsimons to be close to the CU Hospital and continue a near half-century relationship that includes sharing some services, including doctor care. "I wanted to go out there because I saw the benefits of cooperation with (CU Hospital) and I still hope that's going to be the case," he said. Principi also said he believes acreage is abundant at Fitzsimons, which he visited last spring, and is optimistic that a large enough site can be found. "When I was there, there seemed to be a lot of land," he said, talking specifically about acreage owned by the redevelopment authority.