Local

VA hospital opening delayed again

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — There is more bad news for central Florida veterans waiting for the Veterans Administration hospital to be completed. Channel 9 has learned that the completion date has been pushed back another three months.

Officials broke ground on the $665 million hospital project in 2009. It was originally scheduled to open in October 2012, but the project was delayed several times and is now $100 million over budget.

Wednesday afternoon Channel 9's Karla Ray received an email from the contractor Brasfield and Gorie who blamed the delays on the VA changing so many things about the plan.

Veterans waiting on the hospital to open told Ray that the latest delay is just another disappointment.

"Me and the rest of the veterans in central Florida who use this facility are disappointed ," said veteran Earle Denton.

Denton was one of the first local veterans to push for a central Florida VA hospital

He said just learned the new target completion date is now December, instead of this summer.

"Are we going to get something better as a result of that?" asked Earle.

"Do you think that's the case?" Ray asked Earle.

"I hope that's the case," he said.

The contractor contacted Ray late Wednesday afternoon and said the company is working hard to complete the project as soon as possible and that they have an average of 750 workers on the job site every day.