About 200 people, including several leading representatives of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, DC, celebrated the start of construction of the more than $700 million El Paso VA Health Care Center.
It will be built on 36 acres of newly leveled land across from the massive, three-year-old William Beaumont Army Medical Center on the grounds of Fort Bliss in East El Paso. The yet-to-open Intrepid Spirit Center, a facility to treat brain injuries and post-traumatic stress, is adjacent to the VA center’s grounds.
The 500,000-square-foot building will significantly expand the space available for dozens of medical clinics, outpatient surgeries and other health services, improving access and quality of care for more than 54,000 veterans in West Texas and Southern New Mexico, VA officials said Wednesday at a groundbreaking ceremony.
“It’s great to see where it is now. It creates, in my opinion, an ecosystem that takes care of our veterans and their families,” said Republican U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales of San Antonio, who represents part of El Paso County, including Fort Bliss.
Gonzales and Democratic Rep. Veronica Escobar of El Paso helped Congress appropriate $700 million for the project. However, Gonzales voted against some of the funds included in a massive appropriations bill that Congress passed in December 2023. According to a voting record published by The Washington Post, most Republicans voted against it. Gonzales did not comment on that vote in a press release about his participation in the groundbreaking. The press release said he helped secure the $700 million through his position on the House Budget Committee.
Combating “medical undersupply”
Escobar said it’s important for everyone involved in the project to have the new VA center next to Beaumont, like the old one in north-central El Paso was before Beaumont moved. Being on the same campus helps patients and caregivers, she said.
The new VA facility is part of El Paso’s long-standing effort to improve health care in an area that has been “medically underserved” for years, Escobar said.
Views of the planned El Paso VA Health Care Center
See what the proposed VA Health Care Center in East El Paso could look like.
She noted that as an El Paso County judge years ago, she was involved in efforts to open El Paso Children’s Hospital in Central El Paso and to open new clinics for the county-run University Medical Center.
More: $397 million in bonds for University Medical Center projects go to El Paso County voters
“Our job as a community is to improve access to health care for all. Because we know that people who have access to health care live longer, happier, healthier lives, are much more productive and can do their jobs,” Escobar said.
Cara Lanigan, an executive at Clark Construction, the general contractor for the new facility, said it will provide “an unprecedented experience for veterans” because it will offer not only the usual clinical and diagnostic spaces but also “wonderful outdoor gathering spaces,” including healing gardens and an area for service animals.
Project promise: Completed on time and within budget
Clark, based in Washington, DC, was also part of the joint venture that served as prime contractor for the construction of the $1.5 billion Beaumont hospital and clinic complex – plagued by years of construction delays and millions of dollars in cost overruns.
Lanigan said she could not comment on that project because it was being carried out by a different team.
However, Michael Brennan, executive director of the VA Office of Construction and Facilities Management, and Army Col. George H. Walter, the new commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Southwestern Division, assured those attending the ceremony that the VA facility would be built on time and on budget.
Clark was awarded the $617.5 million construction contract for the project in December 2023. SmithGroup, a Detroit-based architecture and engineering firm, and HKS, a global architecture firm based in Dallas, are designing the facility as part of Clark’s team.
The facility’s final price tag, after equipment and other costs are taken into account, is expected to be more than $700 million, VA officials said.
Previous contracts in El Paso worth $50 million
Clark has already awarded $50 million worth of contracts to subcontractors in El Paso, and that number is expected to grow, Clark’s Lanigan said. So far, about $40 million worth of subcontracts have been awarded to small businesses, she said.
At the peak of the project, after about 18 months of construction, about 300 construction workers will be employed, Lanigan said.
Froy Garza, CEO of the El Paso VA Health Care System, said the facility is scheduled to open in late 2028 or early 2029.
It will be a huge improvement over the cramped, nearly 30-year-old VA health center at 5001 N. Piedras Street in north El Paso, Garza said.
The new facility will also help accommodate future growth, he said. The VA projects the number of veterans in the area will increase by 16% by 2029.
Vic Kolenc can be reached at 915-546-6421; [email protected]; @vickolenc on Twitternow known as X.
