Cleveland VA Merge IG Report

Cleveland Plain Dealer ^ | 10/02/2012 | James F. McCarty

[mom4melody]

.S. Inspector General issues critical review of Wade Park-Brecksville VA facility merger

By James F. McCarty, The Plain Dealer on October 01, 2012 at 5:42 PM, updated October 02, 2012 at 8:25 AM Email | Print

Lisa DeJong, Plain Dealer fileFederal Veterans Affairs officials take a tour of the construction at the Louis Stokes Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Wade Park in 2010.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The U.S. Inspector General has issued a scathing review of the expanded Veterans Affairs Medical Center at Wade Park, contending the ill-conceived project will cost taxpayers nearly $500 million over 20 years.

The 124-page report concludes that the decision to consolidate the VA’s Brecksville campus with an enlarged campus near University Circle was "fundamentally flawed" and left the agency paying inflated prices for too little office space.

[mom4melody]

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2012/10/post_52.html

[Ron H.]

Just the concept of a merger like this one is a really bad idea, IMHO. Veterans will become the major losers under such a scheme.

[mom4melody]

Read the IG report....the contarctor was in bed with Cleveland bad guy Jimmy Dimora and is going to prison.

[Ron H.]

....and you completely missed the point I was making.

[hinckley buzzard]

Two things you need to know: Wade Park is totally surrounded by urban development and costs of expansion will be sky high. Brecksville campus buildings, now closed, are architecturally sound and while needing upgrading, would be useful and economical as offices and an associated outpatient satellite clinic such as the VA has been opening all around the NE Ohio area. It is a spacious campus with ample free parking virtually at the buildings' doors.

The key to this story is that the Brecksville campus is situated between I-77 with an exit, and Route 21, a major north south federal highway. The land is worth a fortune and whoever ends up controlling its disposition will be able to flip it for commercial/light industrial development and make a killing that would make a Saudi prince drool.

[mom4melody]

Ron....I must have missed it, sorry.

What was your point?

[mom4melody]

See your private message...