Joseph Morton WORLD-HERALD BUREAU wrote:WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's budget includes $56 million for the design of a new veterans medical facility in Omaha, the White House announced Monday.
“Our veterans deserve the very best care available,” said Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb. “The staff and administration of the Omaha VA Medical Center do a first class job caring for our veterans and now they will have a facility to match."
StreetsOfOmaha wrote:$56 million for design? Whoa! This should be a heck of a hospital!
I never thought about building it on the UNMC campus. That seems like it could really benefit the veterans.Coyote wrote:If it is renovations - like I think it says - it will remain there. The other plan was to build a new building on the UNMC campus - but it appears that this plan isn't that.
I wonder what for... Without the VA Hospital, what would be the need for expanded parking at the old site?Ben wrote:...the existing structure would be torn down to make way for parking.
I have friends who work in hospitals doing physical plant maintenance, and the cost in code compliance when compared to traditional residential and commercial is significant. Not only are fire-prevention measures some of the most stringent, but everything from wall outlets to plumbing fixtures must be specifically tested and approved for hospital use. It wouldn't surprise me if constructions costs were 50-100% more per square foot than office or even residential use.MrPoloShirt wrote:To put this in perspective, didn't FNBO tower cost half as much as this? Wow.
Special plumbing is the biggest issue. They can't have normal sinks and such with overflow preventers because that is a breading ground for mold.thenewguy wrote:due to equipment, special plugs, wiring, etc (like was mentioned).
Nah, I was hoping she'd mention me by name, too. Didn't happen, instead she just self-indulged in her btchyness.DTO Luv wrote:Did they at least call us a liberal commie area? I hope.
She was just a guest in the name of "Fair and Balanced" reported.justnick wrote:Aren't they the patriotic ones that want only the best for the troops?
Well then.
It was the Washington Times, not the Washington Post.JPenny wrote:The OWH has an article about an article in the Washington Post. haha its pretty interesting what some of these reporters are coming up with
http://omaha.com/article/20100319/NEWS01/100319512The Omaha World-Herald wrote:The Veterans Administration's top facilities manager told a U.S. Senate committee last August that a new $500 million-plus VA hospital for Omaha had a good chance of being funded.
Donald Orndoff, director of the office of construction and facilities management for the VA in Washington, indicated that a recently completed review by an independent consultant had given the agency a much greater understanding of the depth of issues with the 60-year-old facility.
"The Secretary is very supportive of moving forward with this project,'' Orndoff told the U.S. Senate's Committee on Veterans Affairs during a field hearing in Omaha on Aug. 20.
Orndoff's testimony directly contradicts a report in Friday's Washington Times that VA officials had told the Senate during that month that they were recommending a renovation of the existing Omaha hospital, not a much more costly new one.
The Times article says the new VA hospital was a "budget plum'' to U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson as the White House was wooing the Democrat to vote for the health care overhaul.
Yeah, well I have a friend whose a nurse there that says the place is a |expletive| hole. Therefore, I KNOW its a dump!S33 wrote:There's some stupid btch on Fox News talking about how the new VA hospital in Omaha is not needed and the funds for the hospital are just another "Cornhusker Kickback".
She says she KNOWS the hospital is just fine and a new one is not needed because her aunt is a nurse there. My understanding is that the hospital is a dump.
I really have to stop watching Fox, they upset me off.
(I guess this would have been just fine in the VA thread, oooops)
I believe the pricetag on Bellevue Med Ctr was $135 million... That's probably the fairest comparison among the new hospitals, but the VA has a much wider service base - VA Omaha is the hub for all veterans across Western Iowa and all of Nebraska. There are a huge # of clinics that are based at the VA. Inpatient wise, Bellevue is something like 100 rooms, where as the new VA facility would likely be 250-300 rooms, if not larger.Stargazer wrote:They are talking about brand new construction...right? This isn't a half BILLION renovation is it? I'm not sure they paid any more than half a BILLION to build all three of the Lakeside, Methodist Women's and Bellevue Medical Center hospitals.
But then again, I guess we're talking about the government which is paying $48 a person for the 2010 census, huh.
Not to mention a growing need for the millions of soldiers which will have eventually partaken in decade long wars.Ben wrote:I believe the pricetag on Bellevue Med Ctr was $135 million... That's probably the fairest comparison among the new hospitals, but the VA has a much wider service base - VA Omaha is the hub for all veterans across Western Iowa and all of Nebraska. There are a huge # of clinics that are based at the VA. Inpatient wise, Bellevue is something like 100 rooms, where as the new VA facility would likely be 250-300 rooms, if not larger.Stargazer wrote:They are talking about brand new construction...right? This isn't a half BILLION renovation is it? I'm not sure they paid any more than half a BILLION to build all three of the Lakeside, Methodist Women's and Bellevue Medical Center hospitals.
But then again, I guess we're talking about the government which is paying $48 a person for the 2010 census, huh.
The Methodist Women's Hospital is roughly $120 million, 116-bed, five-story facility.Ben wrote:I believe the pricetag on Bellevue Med Ctr was $135 million... That's probably the fairest comparison among the new hospitals, but the VA has a much wider service base - VA Omaha is the hub for all veterans across Western Iowa and all of Nebraska. There are a huge # of clinics that are based at the VA. Inpatient wise, Bellevue is something like 100 rooms, where as the new VA facility would likely be 250-300 rooms, if not larger.Stargazer wrote:They are talking about brand new construction...right? This isn't a half BILLION renovation is it? I'm not sure they paid any more than half a BILLION to build all three of the Lakeside, Methodist Women's and Bellevue Medical Center hospitals.
But then again, I guess we're talking about the government which is paying $48 a person for the 2010 census, huh.
Henry J. Cordes WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER wrote:Though far from final, plans are taking shape for what is believed to be the biggest public works project in Omaha since original construction of the Interstate system. Tentatively, completion is expected by 2018.
The first schematic designs to be released by the VA on Tuesday call for a million-square-foot structure on the same grounds as the current hospital, northeast of 42nd and Center Streets. The new hospital would go up in what is now the VA Medical Center's parking lot.
A glass atrium running the length of the curved four-story building would serve as the hospital's central spine and visual centerpiece.
