New VA Building to be built in Tulsa

**Plutonic Panda** · 06-13-2014, 01:39 PM

From NewsOk

Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn says Tulsa will get new VA medical center

A key player in congressional effort to reform VA health care, Coburn says Tulsa needs new center but not the “Taj Mahal” proposed by the department.

Sen. Tom Coburn, who is at odds with Sen. Jim Inhofe over funding for a new Veterans Affairs hospital in Tulsa, said Thursday he would make sure Tulsa gets a better facility, but not the “Taj Mahal” envisioned by the VA.

“We’re going to build a new facility,” Coburn said in an interview. “We’re going to do what’s right for the veterans and we’re going to get out of that cramped facility.”

Coburn agreed that the Tulsa VA center needs more and better space, but said the department had not done the kind of thorough analysis necessary to serve Tulsa-area veterans and maximize taxpayer dollars.

“They’re building a Taj Mahal when they should be building a medical clinic,” Coburn said. “They’re building what they want when they should be building what they need.”

Coburn, R-Muskogee, is a key player in the current effort in Congress to revamp VA medical care to cut down on wait times for appointments — and the manipulation of data regarding those wait times.

Coburn co-authored the Veterans Choice Act, which moved through the House and Senate this week; he will be on the committee that writes a final version. The legislation was combined with parts of another bill that included funding for 27 clinics nationwide, including Tulsa.

Coburn removed the Tulsa project from the legislation and said Thursday he did so because the proposal was flawed. He said he and his staff also were looking at the other projects in the bill.

The Tulsa plan calls for spending more than $13 million to build a new facility or modify one; then, according to Coburn’s office, the space would be leased by the VA for nearly $6 million annually. The space will cost an estimated $40 per square foot, with a 4 percent annual increase, according to Coburn’s office.

- read more here: Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn says Tulsa will get new VA medical center | News OK

**bombermwc** · 06-19-2014, 07:58 AM

Anyone have any data on what the facility would have looked like? I can't say I disagree with the idea of a clinic vs a palace. But it really depends on what that design had. Sometimes the look of a design does not reflect it's cost. You can do awesome things with space to not make them feel like a cramped hallway clinic building...for not much money.

However, $40 sqft does seem high, especially if they are leasing space in the structure rather than owning it...and with 4% increase. Yeah, I'd turn it down too.