VA averts construction shutdown at troubled Denver hospital

DENVER — The Veterans Affairs Department averted a costly construction shutdown at its half-finished hospital outside Denver on Thursday, but it still has to persuade an angry Congress to come up with hundreds of millions of dollars more to complete the troubled project.

A last-minute deal allows work to continue for three weeks while the VA tries to meet congressional demands for a scaled-back project that won’t raise the federal deficit or take services away from veterans elsewhere.

Congress also wants the VA to fire those responsible for the massive cost overruns in Denver and make major internal changes to avoid a…