Bilirakis Celebrates More than Decade-Long Journey to Modernize Veteran Healthcare Facility
Bilirakis worked for over 10 years to ensure local Veterans have access to modern, $148M medical center
Tampa, FL: Earlier today Congressman Gus Bilirakis proudly cut the ribbon on the new James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital bed tower alongside Tampa Bay Veterans and other community leaders. This important milestone comes after more than a decade of advocacy by Bilirakis to ensure his Veteran-constituents receive the highest quality health care available. The state-of-the-art hospital is a significant upgrade to medical care and amenities for Tampa Bay’s large Veteran population. Tampa’s James A. Haley Veterans Hospital is one of the busiest Veterans’ hospitals in the nation, serving over 90,000 veterans, including those who reside in Pasco, Hernando and Citrus counties. Congressman Bilirakis worked tirelessly to secure $148 million for the construction of a new bed tower addition with modern amenities and to remove bureaucratic roadblocks that threatened to jeopardize the project. The new facility will feature approximately 100 new single patient rooms and 40 intensive care unit beds.
“It has been my privilege to champion the needs of our Veteran community. It truly represents a win-win for the local Veteran community that has waited patiently for these well-deserved improvements and for American taxpayers. This project is the culmination of many years of tireless advocacy and tenacious efforts by myself and my colleagues, which originally began in 2008. Due to bureaucratic processes in Washington, the original plan was to renovate the existing James A Haley hospital facility first built in 1971--even though doing so cost nearly half a billion dollars more than building a brand new bed tower. This made absolutely no sense to me or my colleagues. We were determined to cut through the red-tape and ensure that commonsense prevailed. After a lengthy battle, legislation was finally signed into law in 2015 authorizing the construction of the beautiful new facility. My goal was always to ensure Veterans received the quality care they deserved while ensuring taxpayer dollars were used as efficiently as possible. We ran into a few delays, but I am thrilled that we were finally able to open the doors of this fantastic state-of-the art facility. Our Veterans are our true American heroes, and they absolutely deserve the very best care available,” said Bilirakis.
Brief Timeline of Bed Tower Project
June 2008
- Congress appropriated $396M for planned major construction at VA Centers throughout the country, including James A. Haley Veterans Hospital.
March 2011
- Significant cost savings on the Haley polytrauma center upgrades and parking garage provided a $160 million surplus that leaders identified would be best used to build a modern bed tower at the hospital. My colleagues and I fought the VA central office to ensure those surplus funds would be used locally for other needed repairs instead of being returned to the VA coffers.
May 2011
- VA acknowledges the need for facility improvements but insists on renovation of original facility instead of construction of new bed tower.
April 25, 2012
August 1, 2012
- Secretary Shinseki responds to lawmakers stating that VA’s policy regarding cost savings is for the money to be allocated to the next highest major construction project. Over the course of the next two years, Bilirakis meets with VA Secretary on multiple occasions to press for the keeping the surplus funds at James A. Haley and advocates for the construction of a new facility instead of the renovation project.
May 12, 2014
- VA submits letter to the House Veterans Affairs Committee informing it that VA will obligate funds for the design to build the 6-story, 120 bed tower at the Haley VA.
July 2017
- The final bid package for qualified bidders is released with expected award by Army Corps of Engineers by November.
January 31, 2018
July 31, 2018
January 21, 2023
- Opening of New Facility