VA brings Oracle records system to Cleveland, Anchorage as deal swells to $27 billion

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) planned to move its hospitals in Cleveland and Anchorage onto a new electronic health record built by Oracle on Saturday, Oct. 24 ³. Cleveland's News 5 reported that the system has started up at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, and that critics there are worried about what it means for patient care ¹.

The switch comes while Oracle's top two leaders, Chairman Larry Ellison and CEO Mike Sicilia, are under subpoena from the House Veterans' Affairs Committee. Lawmakers want them to explain why the spending limit on the VA contract rose from $10 billion to about $27 billion ⁵⁶. The committee voted 19-0 for the subpoenas on Sept. 2, with both parties in favor ⁵⁶.

What changes for patients

An electronic health record is the digital chart that doctors, nurses and pharmacists use to track your visits, prescriptions, test results and referrals to specialists. The new system replaces a VA system that is 30 years old ¹. VA Deputy Secretary Paul Lawrence has said any VA provider will be able to see a veteran's full record. He also said military records will carry over, because the Pentagon uses the same system ³.

For Cleveland-area patients, the VA says the My HealtheVet patient portal on VA.gov is not changing ⁴. It asks veterans to sign in to VA.gov and check that their contact details and communication preferences are current ⁴. Just before the launch, the VA also announced 15 new or updated features. One shows vital signs and orders on a single timeline. Another sends ultrasound images straight into the record ².

A troubled history

The VA put the system into medical centers in Washington, Oregon and Ohio between 2020 and 2022, then halted the rollout in 2023 over safety and functionality concerns ⁸. The VA's internal watchdog, the Office of Inspector General, found harm to at least 149 patients. The cause was a feature that made some specialty-care referrals, follow-up appointments and lab orders disappear from view ⁸.

The rollout restarted in April at four Michigan VA systems: Detroit, Saginaw, Ann Arbor and Battle Creek ⁸. Aleen Martinez, a nurse referral coordinator at the Ann Arbor VA hospital, told News 5 Cleveland that the switch there caused a backlog of more than 20,000 patient referrals. She also described missing patient information and gaps in medication orders ¹. Former and current VA staff joined a protest group that planned to give the Cleveland director a letter asking him to stop the rollout ¹.

We're against technology that doesn't work for the people whose lives depend on it.

Lawrence defended the system. He said the VA and Oracle have made more than 13,000 software improvements since the first rollout ¹. He also called critics "very present-level luddites" ¹.

It is safe, and we are going very slow to make sure that we have control over the AI.

The price tag keeps climbing

The VA signed the original 10-year deal with Cerner in 2018, and Oracle bought Cerner in 2022 ⁹. The first estimate was $10 billion over 10 years. Lawrence now puts the lifetime cost of the program at $37.2 billion ⁸. In 2022, the Institute for Defense Analyses, a federally funded research center, estimated $49.8 billion ⁵.

In August, the VA gave Oracle a $16.9 billion contract change without competitive bidding. The change raised the spending limit to about $27 billion and extended the contract to 2031 ⁹⁵⁷. Lawmakers said they learned about it from news reports ⁵. In 2022, Sicilia had told the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee that Oracle would fix performance or workflow problems "at our expense" ⁵.

Why does Oracle need $17 billion more to get this work done?

Republicans on the committee were also upset. Chairman Mike Bost, an Illinois Republican, said "Veterans and taxpayers deserve to know why costs are rising faster than planned." ⁹ The Government Accountability Office (GAO), Congress's auditing agency, says 14 of its 18 recommendations for the program have not been fully carried out ⁵.

This has been the biggest boondoggle I've seen

Democrats have raised another concern. Committee Democrats said Ellison gave $45 million to a political nonprofit that supported President Trump's 2024 campaign before the VA approved the higher spending limit ⁶. Rep. Maxine Dexter of Oregon, who made the motion for the subpoenas, cited a Wall Street Journal report on that gift. She said, "I am not saying this is a corrupt contract, but the red flags demand serious scrutiny." ⁷

What comes next

The VA plans to add 26 more sites in 2027 and to have the system in every VA medical center by 2031 ³⁸. In April, Rep. Tom Barrett, a Michigan Republican who chairs the committee's technology subcommittee, said "The only acceptable result is a flawless go live because our veterans cannot accept failure." ⁸

That matters because older veterans often see several specialists and take several prescriptions, so they have the most to lose when a referral or medication order goes missing. The pattern so far: the committee's Republican chairman calls the project a boondoggle, Democrats led the push for the subpoenas that passed 19-0, and the VA keeps expanding the rollout. Lawmakers' next chance to question Oracle's leaders under oath will show whether that pressure leads to answers.

The Record

1. Apr 10, 2026VA announces the end of a three-year pause, with four Michigan VA systems set to switch to the new record ⁸
2. Aug 18, 2026VA posts a $16.9 billion contract change with Oracle that raises the spending limit to about $27 billion ⁹
3. Sep 2, 2026House Veterans' Affairs Committee votes 19-0 to subpoena Oracle's Larry Ellison and Mike Sicilia ⁵
4. Sep 14, 2026Committee Democrats say the subpoenas have been served ⁶
5. Oct 24, 2026Planned date for the new record to start at the Cleveland and Anchorage VA hospitals ³¹

Sources

1. News 5 Cleveland (WEWS), “Modernized record system debuts at Cleveland VA as critics raise concerns” (2026-10-23). news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/modernized-record-system-
2. Federal News Network, “VA adds new and updated features to its electronic health records system” (2026-10-23). federalnewsnetwork.com/federal-newscast/2026/10/va-adds-new-
3. Alaska's News Source (KTUU), “VA launching new digital health record system in Anchorage this October” (2026-03-25). alaskasnewssource.com/2026/03/26/va-launching-new-digital-he
4. VA Northeast Ohio Healthcare System, “Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM)” (2026-10-26). va.gov/northeast-ohio-health-care/programs/electronic-health
5. FedScoop, “House committee votes to subpoena Oracle after fiery hearing on VA's $27B EHRM contract” (2026-09-02). fedscoop.com/oracle-subpoena-house-hearing-va-27b-ehrm-contr
6. House Veterans' Affairs Committee Democrats, “Subpoenas Served: Democrats Force Oracle's Ellison and Sicilia to Face Congress” (2026-09-14). democrats-veterans.house.gov/news/press-releases/subpoenas-s
7. Office of Rep. Maxine Dexter, “House Veterans' Affairs Committee Unanimously Passes Rep. Maxine Dexter's Motion to Subpoena Oracle Leaders Over $27 Billion VA Contract” (2026-09-02). dexter.house.gov/media/press-releases/house-veterans-affairs
8. Military Times, “After three-year hiatus, VA to resume rollout of new electronic medical records system” (2026-04-10). militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2026/04/10/after-th
9. Stars and Stripes, “VA committee votes to subpoena Oracle executives over cost overruns in health records update” (2026-09-03). stripes.com/veterans/2026-09-03/house-committee-subpoena-ora

Found an error? Tell the newsroom. Corrections are noted at the top of the story.