VA | The Contracting Education Academy

April 3, 2018 By AMK

Lax oversight of VA project caused $17.7M overrun, construction collapse

The Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs issued a report that found both a contractor and VA hospital officials demonstrated “shoddy planning” and poor oversight of an $8.7 million generator project that is $17.5 million over budget.

The VA in June 2014 hired Florida-based BCI Construction for $8.7 million to install a generator system and accompanying structure to house the unit at the Jack C. Montgomery VA Medical Center in Muskogee, Oklahoma. According to the inspector general, the VA did not submit an excavation plan for approval before beginning work. Subsequently, a hillside and parking lot collapsed, and the damage will cost $17.5 million to fix.

**Photos show noticeable deterioration of parking lot before collapse.** (photos by VA Medical Center employee)

In addition to supervisory and procedural errors, the inspector general also found that BCI’s worksite to be unsafe. Safety inspections were sporadic, and 49 safety violations were never reported to the government contracting officer, which is a violation of VA policy.

The inspector general recommended requiring contracting officer representatives are qualified and follow VA regulations and mandating that employees follow safety inspection guidelines. The current Muskogee hospital director, hired after the collapse, said the facility has implemented the recommendations.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.constructiondive.com/news/report-lax-oversight-of-va-project-caused-177m-overrun-construction-col/520242/

Read the article in The Oklahoman newspaper on this subject at: http://newsok.com/article/5588662/construction-collapse-at-muskogee-va-hospital-will-cost-17.5-million-to-repair-and-was-the-result-of-poor-planning-federal-report-finds

Read the VA’s full OIG report at: https://www.oversight.gov/sites/default/files/oig-reports/VAOIG-15-04678-114.pdf

February 23, 2018 By AMK

VA secretary on $10 billion health records contract: ‘We have to get this one right’

Embroiled in allegations that taxpayers improperly paid for his wife’s travels, Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin promised to Congress that the agency responsible for caring for more than 9 million veterans would be better stewards of taxpayer dollars.

Shulkin, testifying before the House Committee on Veterans Affairs Thursday, told lawmakers he would follow recommendations made by the VA inspector general and personally reimburse the Treasury for several thousand dollars’ worth of expenses accumulated by his wife, who accompanied him on a trip to Europe last year.

Shulkin had been slated to appear before the House committee before the IG report went public to provide insight regarding President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2019 budget proposal, which seeks $198 billion for the department. That budget, however, includes a reduction of 27 full-time positions within the department’s office of inspector general, “leaving OIG far short of their desired staffing level,” said Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minnesota.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/it-modernization/2018/02/va-secretary-10b-health-records-contract-we-have-get-one-right/146026/

February 14, 2018 By AMK

Veterans Affairs wasted close to $2 billion on failed IT projects

The Veterans Affairs Department blew almost $2 billion over three attempts to modernize the electronic health records system it uses to provide care to 9 million veterans.

A recent audit by the Government Accountability Office identified $1.1 billion in wasted spending on two VA projects from 2011 to 2016, the Integrated Electronic Health Record and Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture.

Nextgov identified another $600 million VA spent on a third program, the HealtheVet initiative, which began in 2001 but was deemed a “failed” project, according to the audit, and canceled in 2010. The HealtheVet spending was not included in GAO’s audit because VA said it no longer possessed spending records. Agencies are required by the Federal Acquisition Regulation to keep contract records for six years after final payment, the audit notes.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/it-modernization/2018/01/veterans-affairs-wasted-almost-2-billion-failed-it-projects/145626/

December 11, 2017 By AMK

Lawmakers to VA: “We’ve got your back” on $10 billion IT contract

Officials from the Veterans Affairs Department last Thursday defended their decision to scrap previous plans and begin a fourth, and hopefully final, attempt to modernize the agency’s electronic health records system.

In June, VA Secretary David Shulkin announced his plan to award Cerner Corp. a single-source contract to put the agency on the same electronic health records platform as the Defense Department. At a price-tag of about $10 billion, it would be one of the biggest health IT implementations in history, said VA Chief Information Officer Scott Blackburn.

Blackburn highlighted the differences between the Cerner plan and previous failed attempts at achieving interoperability between VA and DoD medical records before a House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee. Unlike previous attempts to modernize a motley crue of decades-old IT systems, the new plan would put every VA facility on a single, uniform platform over the next 10 years.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/health/health-it/2017/12/lawmakers-va-weve-got-your-back-10b-it-contract/144399/

August 10, 2017 By AMK

Congress turning its attention to acquisition, training challenges at VA

Veterans affairs congressional committees have been busy this year, passing new accountability legislation and finalizing details to change the outdated veterans appeals process.

Now, lawmakers are beginning to turn their attention to some of the more nitty-gritty challenges facing the Veterans Affairs Department.

VA, however, doesn’t see the need for new legislative fixes, or at least, not these particular suggestions related to the department’s training and onboarding for acquisition professionals, as well as its procurement reporting standards.

But Congress, long frustrated by VA’s lengthy contracting processes and the scheduling and cost overruns it’s seen with major construction projects in the past, isn’t convinced the department can more effectively manage the procurement process and staff its offices properly without new legislation.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsradio.com/veterans-affairs/2017/06/congress-turning-its-attention-to-acquisition-training-challenges-at-va/

The Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs issued a report that found both a contractor and VA hospital officials demonstrated “shoddy planning” and poor oversight of an $8.7 million generator project that is $17.5 million over budget.

The Veterans Affairs Department blew almost $2 billion over three attempts to modernize the electronic health records system it uses to provide care to 9 million veterans.

Officials from the Veterans Affairs Department last Thursday defended their decision to scrap previous plans and begin a fourth, and hopefully final, attempt to modernize the agency’s electronic health records system.

Veterans affairs congressional committees have been busy this year, passing new accountability legislation and finalizing details to change the outdated veterans appeals process.

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