An additional $31.2 million is on its way to Tulsa’s new downtown Veterans Affairs hospital, according to VHiT, the nonprofit overseeing the project.
VHiT (Veterans Hospital in Tulsa) said Friday that the additional appropriation — made through last month’s $1.7 trillion omnibus bill and the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act — will offset unexpected construction costs.
“This new VA hospital has been a herculean effort by so many, and we had faith that our federal delegation would help increase funding to cover this unprecedented inflation,” VHiT Director Courtney Knoblock wrote in an email.
“If the funding had been short, there is no question the project could have suffered from some scope modification. We’re very glad we don’t have to go down that path and can continue with this much anticipated and needed hospital for our veterans.”
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Knoblock said the appropriation also will keep the project on schedule for completion in late 2024.
The supplemental appropriation brings the total cost of the hospital to $171.2 million, with $151.2 million from federal sources. The remainder is from philanthropic and local and state government sources.
The 58-bed hospital will occupy the former Kerr-Edmondson state office complex on the west side of downtown. According to VHiT, the hospital is the largest nonmilitary, nontransportation federal project in the state.
The hospital will be affiliated with the neighboring Oklahoma State University Medical Center and part of a larger, $450 million project that will include a 100-bed inpatient mental health facility and OSU Pharmaceutical Research Lab and Clinical Center.
VHiT says the medical complex will be the largest construction project in downtown Tulsa since the Williams Center in the 1970s.
2021 video: Groundbreaking on VA hospital in Tulsa
