§1104a Shared Medical Facilities with Department of Veterans Affairs

Summary

Allows the Secretary of Defense to make agreements with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to plan, design, build, or lease medical facilities that both departments will use. The Defense Department may send money to VA for construction up to the limit in section 2805(a)(2) if the Defense share does not exceed that limit and other rules there are met. The Defense Department may also use money from the Defense Health Program for planning, design, construction, or leasing. Section 2215 does not apply to these transfers, and this transfer authority is extra to other transfer powers. The VA may send money back to the Defense Department for the same planning, design, construction, or leasing purposes, and those funds can be placed in Defense accounts and used for those projects. Small, unspecified minor military construction projects may be done with those funds if the Defense share does not exceed section 2805(a)(2). All transfers must be merged with the receiving appropriation and may only happen when Congress provides money in advance. A “shared medical facility” means a building or campus used by both VA and DoD for health care and includes related buildings, parking, equipment, covered sidewalks, and housing for staff.