I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 811
To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out construction
projects for the purpose of improving, renovating, and updating patient
care facilities at Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 1, 2001
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. EVANS, Mr. MORAN of Kansas,
Mr. FILNER, Mr. STUMP, Mr. REYES, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. STEARNS, Mr.
BAKER, Mr. SIMMONS, Mr. BROWN of South Carolina, and Mr. BUYER)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Veterans’ Affairs
A BILL
To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out
construction projects for the purpose of improving, ren-
ovating, and updating patient care facilities at Depart-
ment of Veterans Affairs medical centers.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans’ Hospital
Emergency Repair Act’’.
SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF MAJOR MEDICAL FACILITY
PROJECTS FOR PATIENT CARE IMPROVE-
MENTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—(1) The Secretary of Veterans Af-
fairs is authorized to carry out major medical facility
projects in accordance with this section, using funds ap-
propriated for fiscal year 2002 or fiscal year 2003 pursu-
ant to section 3. The cost of any such project may not
exceed $25,000,000.
(2) Projects carried out under this section are not
subject to section 8104(a)(2) of title 38, United States
Code.
(b) PURPOSE OF PROJECTS.—A project carried out
pursuant to subsection (a) may be carried out only at a
Department of Veterans Affairs medical center and only
for the purpose of improving, renovating, and updating to
contemporary standards patient care facilities. In selecting
medical centers for projects under subsection (a), the Sec-
retary shall select projects to improve, renovate, or update
facilities to achieve one or more of the following:
(1) Seismic protection improvements related to
patient safety.
(2) Fire safety improvements.
(3) Improvements to utility systems and ancil-
lary patient care facilities.
(4) Improved accommodation for persons with
disabilities, including barrier-free access.
(5) improvements to specialized programs of the
Department, including the following:
(A) Blind rehabilitation centers.
(B) Inpatient and residential programs for
seriously mentally ill veterans, including mental
illness research, education, and clinical centers.
(C) Residential and rehabilitation pro-
grams for veterans with substance-use dis-
orders.
(D) Physical medicine and rehabilitation
activities.
(E) Long-term care, including geriatric re-
search, education, and clinical centers, adult
day care centers, and nursing home care facili-
ties.
(F) Amputation care, including facilities
for prosthetics, orthotics programs, and sensory
aids.
(G) Spinal cord injury centers.
(H) Traumatic brain injury programs.
(I) Women veterans’ health programs (in-
cluding particularly programs involving privacy
and accommodation for female patients).
(J) Facilities for hospice and palliative
care programs.
(c) REVIEW PROCESS.—(1) Before a project is sub-
mitted to the Secretary with a recommendation that it be
approved as a project to be carried out under the authority
of this section, the project shall be reviewed by an inde-
pendent board within the Department of Veterans Affairs
constituted by the Secretary to evaluate capital investment
projects. The board shall review each such project to de-
termine the project’s relevance to the medical care mission
of the Department and whether the project improves, ren-
ovates, and updates patient care facilities of the Depart-
ment in accordance with this section.
(2) In selecting projects to be carried out under the
authority provided by this section, the Secretary shall con-
sider the recommendations of the board under paragraph
(1). In any case in which the Secretary selects a project
to be carried out under this section that was not rec-
ommended for such approval by the board under para-
graph (1), the Secretary shall include in the report of the
Secretary under section 4(b) notice of such selection and
the Secretary’s reasons for not following the recommenda-
tion of the board with respect to that project.
committees referred to in subsection (a) a report on the
authorization process under section 2. The Secretary shall
include in the report the following:
(1) A listing by project of each such project se-
lected by the Secretary under that section, together
with a prospectus description of the purposes of the
project, the estimated cost of the project, and a
statement attesting to the review of the project
under section 2(c), and, if that project was not rec-
ommended by the board, the Secretary’s justification
under section 2(d) for not following the rec-
ommendation of the board.
(2) An assessment of the utility to the Depart-
ment of Veterans Affairs of that authorization proc-
ess.
(3) Such recommendations as the Secretary
considers appropriate for future congressional policy
for authorizations of major and minor medical facil-
ity construction projects for the Department of Vet-
erans Affairs.
(4) Any other matter that the Secretary con-
siders to be appropriate with respect to oversight by
Congress of capital facilities projects of the Depart-
ment of Veterans Affairs.
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