The VA operates one of the largest healthcare-related real estate portfolios in the nation. However, many VA facilities are older and no longer well suited to providing care, leaving VA with millions of square feet of property it does not use to capacity (underutilized) or at all (vacant). This report identifies: (1) VA¿s progress in reducing underutilized or vacant property and how much VA spends operating the underutilized or vacant property it retains; (2) VA¿s use of its various legal authorities to reduce underutilized and vacant property and the extent to which VA tracks how these authorities contribute to reductions; and (3) the challenges VA faces in minimizing underutilized and vacant space and the strategies VA is using to address these challenges. Illus.

The Vet. Health Admin. (VHA) operates one of the largest integrated health care systems in the country. Better mgmt. of VHA's large inventory of aged capital assets could result in savings that could be used to enhance health care services for vets. In response, VHA initiated a process known as Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES). Through CARES, VHA sought to determine the future resources needed to provide health care to our nation's vets. This testimony describes: (1) how CARES contributes to VHA's capital planning process; (2) the extent to which VHA has implemented CARES decisions; and (3) the legal authorities that VHA has to manage its real property and the extent to which VHA has used these authorities.