On the eve of a major expansion, a multibillion-dollar project to upgrade the computer systems of all Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals is beset with problems, according to some medical staff who already use it. Critical patient notes disappear. Prescriptions log the wrong dosages. One nurse said the system incorrectly listed one of her patients as dead.

Mike Faught, a case manager at Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center in Spokane, said he lost access to his patients’ records for two days after a software update in August.

“It’s amazing to me that there are still so many problems,” Faught said. “Every time there’s an update, there are unintended consequences.”

The program launched in 2018 to replace the aging computer system used across VA’s health care network, which serves more t

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