Special to the Daily Herald

WASHINGTON, D.C. –

U.S. Reps. John Carter, R-Round Rock, and Chet Edwards, D-Waco, recommended to Pentagon officials on Wednesday that the new Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood be built in its entirety starting in 2010, rather than in two phases as planned.

Fort Hood officials have told the two congressmen that more than $100 million could be saved if their proposal is adopted by the Pentagon.

Carter and Edwards submitted a bipartisan request to the Defense Department to complete Phases I and II of the replacement project simultaneously with funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the supplemental appropriations bill, which became law earlier this year, that funds U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Carter and Edwards added $488 million to renovate military hospitals under the bill as members of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Appropriations.

"Combining Phases I and II would be a win for the taxpayer and our military families," Carter said.

"We would save on construction costs and improve health services more quickly.

With the majority of Recovery Act funds remaining unspent and unclaimed, we could put those funds to use right now on this project for the benefit of all."

Current construction plans call for Phase I of the project to break ground in September 2010, with completion set for 2013 at the current site of Fort Hood Stadium, and will include a three-story clinic building and a three-story ancillary building.

The buildings will house numerous departments including primary care clinics and general surgery. Phase 2 of the project is currently set to begin in 2016 with completion by 2019.

It will include a five-story tower that will house the emergency department, the medical surgery center, intensive care units and other departments.

Carter currently represents Fort Hood. Edwards represented the facility before congressional redistricting in 2004.

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