Summary: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has requested $211 million for a hospital construction project at Travis Air Force Base in California. The project would provide additional hospital beds for veterans who were previously served by a VA hospital in Martinez, California, that closed in 1991 because of concerns about earthquake safety. GAO concludes that the additional hospital beds and outpatient clinic VA has proposed for Travis are unnecessary. Today, more than 3,300 hospital beds in northern California are going unused, including beds in VA, Air Force, and community hospitals. In addition, the VA population is expected to drop by about 25 percent between 1995 and 2010. Further, VA has not considered the likely negative effects the additional beds could have on other hospitals in northern California, particularly community hospitals in the Solano County areas surrounding Travis that have occupancy rates of about 40 percent. Several more efficient alternatives are available to VA in the event that demand for hospital care increases. For example, existing clinic's hospital referral patterns could be changed to manage excess capacity in existing VA and Defense Department hospitals. Similarly, VA clinics should be able to purchase care from community hospitals more conveniently and at a lower cost than would be incurred through the construction of additional beds. Legislation to expand VA's contracting authority is pending in Congress. Finally, with the planned closure of the Mather hospital, VA has an opportunity to acquire a fully functional facility for use as either a hospital or an outpatient clinic.
