North Las Vegas VA hospital gets final contract

Published Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008 | 1:22 p.m.

Updated Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008 | 3:46 p.m.

Senators John Ensign, R-Nev., and Harry Reid, D-Nev., announced today that the Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded the final construction contract to complete the long-awaited veteran's hospital in North Las Vegas.

The VA informed both senators today that this is one of the last steps to making the hospital fully operational.

The $364,924,000 contract was to Clark/Hunt of Las Vegas.

The 700,000-square-foot center will include a 90-bed hospital and 120-bed long-term care center. Ensign and Reid sponsored legislation that transferred land between the 215 Beltway, Pecos Road, Centennial Parkway and Lamb Boulevard at no cost from the Bureau of Land Management to the Veterans Administration for the campus.

"It's been a long road to bring this new and improved VA hospital to Nevada, and I am pleased we're making progress on building a facility that gives our veterans the best possible medical care," Reid, Senate majority leader, said.

Ensign worked on the VA Committee to helped secure the hospital for Southern Nevada.

"With new veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan, and the valley's continued growth, this full-service medical complex is the best way to meet the growing demand for VA healthcare," said Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., who is a member of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

During a visit to the site in August, VA Secretary James Peake said that this would be the "crown jewel" of the VA infrastructure.