8 Nov 2026 12:00
VA Tech Upgrade: 13 Years and Counting - Ep 644
The Department of Veterans Affairs has spent years trying to modernize its electronic health record system, but Aaron, Trent, and Peaches dig into why the project has become such a massive government-tech story. The original contract carried a roughly $10 billion ceiling, Oracle later acquired Cerner, the timeline moved from 2028 to 2031, and the contract ceiling increased to about $27 billion. The guys walk through how a project meant to simplify veteran healthcare instead became a case study in delays, added complexity, and questions about accountability.
The Spokane rollout becomes the clearest example. According to the figures discussed in the episode, staffing increased, productivity dropped, and later inspections raised concerns about workflow, burnout, and patient safety. Aaron’s larger point is that inefficiency at the VA is not just an annoyance — when staff are overloaded and systems are slow, veterans waiting for medical or mental-health care feel the consequences directly. Trent and Peaches also compare those problems with their own relatively positive VA experiences in San Antonio and Las Vegas, highlighting how uneven the system can be across locations.
Then the numbers get even harder to ignore. The transcript notes that by July 2026, the new system was live at only 14 of 164 facilities, while later estimates discussed in the episode put the total rollout and sustainment cost far above the original contract ceiling. Aaron, Trent, and Peaches also get into Oracle’s upcoming congressional testimony, proprietary software concerns, contractor accountability, and the difference between a contract ceiling and actual money spent. Their bottom line is simple: modernization is necessary, but veterans should not have to accept waste, delay, and poor performance as the normal cost of doing business.
LINKS
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CHAPTERS
00:00 - Ones Ready01:10 - The VA Has a Technology Problem02:33 - Why VA Systems Feel So Outdated03:30 - Oracle Health and the $10 Billion Contract04:36 - Why Government Tech Contracts Balloon05:26 - From $10 Billion to $27 Billion06:42 - Did DHA Make Things Worse?07:52 - Spokane Becomes the Test Case08:30 - More Staff, Less Productivity10:01 - When Healthcare Inefficiency Becomes a Patient Problem10:14 - The MICT Checklist Comparison11:11 - Trent and Peaches’ VA Experiences12:35 - Why Veterans Accept Broken Systems13:34 - Big VA Hospitals vs Smaller Facilities14:13 - Why It’s Hard to Attract Staff15:00 - Only 14 of 164 Facilities Were Live15:43 - Oracle, Cerner and Proprietary Systems16:46 - Congress Subpoenas Oracle Executives18:00 - What Oracle Says in Its Defense19:11 - How Much Will This Actually Cost?20:05 - Vegas vs San Antonio Veteran Populations20:52 - Fraud, Waste and Accountability22:15 - Ones Ready Partners and OTS23:12 - Wrap-Up
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