New home for Missouri veterans proposed to ease wait list

With about 2,000 veterans waiting for a room, Gov. Jay Nixon is hoping to tap into new bond revenues to pay for an additional veterans nursing home in Missouri.

But he will need the approval of legislators, who must weigh the proposed veterans home against desires for dozens of other improvements at public facilities across the state.

"These men and women did their duty to God and country so that our lives might be better," Nixon said during his State of the State address on Wednesday. "Now we need to be there for them. Let's work together to get this built."

A new veterans' home with 150 beds is estimated to cost $50 million.

"Just one home is not the final answer but it's a great step forward," Missouri Veterans of Foreign Wars legislative chairman Dewey Riehn said.

Currently, some veterans can face wait times of up to six months to a year for one of the 1,350 spaces that can provide the skilled nursing care they need, he said.

"They're told they have to go on the wait list and it really shocks them. Their family usually ends up putting them in a private paid facility," Riehn said, adding that though some veterans may receive Medicaid assistance, the cost of a private home can be a burden for their families.

An updated bonding measure is needed to use any of the funds for new construction on a veterans home. That's because last year's up to $600 million of bonds was for renovations and repairs at state facilities and college campuses, not new buildings.

The governor's budget proposal seeks to tap into last year's bonding plan for about $353 million of renovation projects at higher education institutions and state facilities, including $14.5 million for renovating the state's seven existing veterans homes. Specific renovation projects also require legislative action.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Kurt Schaefer had not yet seen a detailed proposal Thursday about the new veterans home.

"There is a need" for it, he said, but added that there were other priorities competing for the bond money.

Missouri Veterans Commission deputy director Bryan Hunt addressed renovations at the existing homes, saying there is a constant need for repairs and updates to the facilities, which must meet exacting standards set by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Needs in the homes, which range in age from three decades to 10 years, include nurses' stations renovations, ventilation system repairs and other improvements.

"We hold it of the highest importance every year to renovate and maintain the existing facilities to provide quality nursing care for our veterans and the most home-like environment possible," Hunt said.