OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Turning the Creighton University Medical Center into a veterans hospital has surfaced as a new option for replacing Omaha’s aging federal facility. Rep. Lee Terry, an Omaha Republican, says the option was one of three discussed Tuesday during a meeting between the Nebraska delegation and the head of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Robert McDonald.

Local financing to build the replacement and lease it back to the federal government also was discussed. Officials say renovating the Creighton hospital would cost about $250 million, compared with the $560 million estimated for a new, replacement facility. Federal funding for the replacement facility remains mired on a list of VA construction projects.

The Omaha hospital serves more than 160,000 veterans in the VA’s Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System.