The COVID-19 pandemic has cancelled and delayed a host of new construction, renovation and upgrade projects in healthcare facilities nationwide as organizations have responded to declines in revenues and staffing challenges. One hospital project that is now full-speed ahead will bring enhanced access and services to Oklahoma.

The recently signed $2.3 trillion appropriations and COVID relief package have the go-ahead to a new Veterans Affairs hospital in Tulsa, according to the Tulsa World. The bill includes the federal government’s full $120 million commitment to the facility, which also includes participation by the state, city, local philanthropists and Oklahoma State University (OSU). Plans call for two buildings, which have already been transferred from the state to Oklahoma State University, to be renovated into a 58-bed medical-surgical hospital.

In conjunction with the hospital’s completion, the Jack Montgomery Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Muskogee will transition to an inpatient treatment center and outpatient clinic.

The federal funds will pay for most of the new hospital’s construction, with another $10 million from private philanthropy, led by the Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation.

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