4 • AUGUST 27, 2015 • VETERAN VOICE • THE VOICE OF EXPERIENCE
Image courtesy of the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs The Ardie R. Copas State Veteran Home will have a groundbreaking sometime in 2016. It’ll likely open sometime in 2018. The nursing home will generate about $7 million a year in wages. Additionally, it’ll spend about another $5 million a year locally for supplies and services.
NURSE from page 1 manager, said that his office is getting a lot of queries about the home. “We do have people coming into our office all the time inquiring about it and wanting to know when they can sign up (to become residents),” he said. “We have (adult) children coming in to ask about their parents.” And— “We’re getting calls about jobs, of course,” Teegardin said. “‘When are they hiring?’” Teegardin said his answer is the same to everyone. “We’re telling them there’ll be public notices about the groundbreaking,” he said. So, when’s the groundbreaking going to be?
“I see the groundbreaking with the shovels and everything sometime in 2016,” Murray said. Once the groundbreaking happens, there’ll be some more waiting. The last home the FDVA built was the Clyde E. Lassen State Veterans’ Nursing Home in St. Augustine. Murray said the groundbreaking was in 2008, and it opened in 2010. “It was a four and a half year project from the time it was awarded (until) your residents were going in,” Murray said. The reason veteran homes take time to build is simple. “For us, you can’t get it done fast enough, but you have to get these right,” Murray said “These are not fast food buildings that in the blink of an eye pop up on the corner and start serving food.”
veteran voice The Voice of Experience
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The state veterans department isn’t just building a nursing home and opening it for business. Because different generations of veterans have different needs, it has to look far into the future during the design phase. Additionally, the state veteran homes must hold up when hurricanes are barreling at the Sunshine State. “They’re designed to withstand Florida’s worst weather conditions,” Murray said. Part of the seeming groundbreaking delay is because the federal VA is paying for 65 percent of the construction and has to approve the design in stages. In coming months, the architect, Rogers, Lovelock, and Fritz, Orlando, will give the VA its first design work to review. “That’s a formality in order to start
drawing down the federal funds to construct the facility,” Murray said. When completed, the Copas home will have 120 to 128 residents. It’ll also have a lot of employees taking care of them. “It’s going to be in the 170, 175, 180 range,” Murray said. The Florida Cabinet selected Tradition in Port St. Lucie for the state’s next veteran home last September. It voted to name it after Fort Pierce Medal of Honor recipient Ardie Ray Copas in January. Copas posthumously received the nation’s highest military honor in 2013. State veterans homes are named after deceased Medal of Honor recipients who have ties to the areas they’re located. When opened, the Copas Home
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ANIMALS from page 2 Theodore Wilson Publisher Steve Erlanger Partner Phil Galdys Director of Operations Michelle Gentile Managing Editor Jeffrey A. Mayer Display Advertising Consultant Jack Depierro Display Advertising Consultant Ashley McBride Legal Advertising Mary Kemper Staff Writer/ Marketing Consultant Patrick McCallister Staff Writer Shelley Koppel Staff Writer Mitch Kloorfain Chief Photographer Eric Macon Graphic Designer Josephine Pace HR/Accounting Manager
and employees have clear guidance regarding the presence of service animals in our facilities. VA remains committed to ensuring America’s Veterans have access to the health care benefits for which they are eligible.” Under the revised regulation, only dogs that are individually trained to perform work or tasks on behalf of an individual with a disability will be considered service animals. Other animals will not be permitted in VA facilities, unless expressly allowed as an exception under the regulation for activities such as animal-assisted therapy or for other reasons such as law enforcement purposes. The regulation further confirms that service animals may access VA property subject to the same terms that govern the admission of the public to VA property, and may be restricted from certain areas on VA properties to ensure
“As I have traveled to VA facilities throughout the country, I have heard from many Veterans about what a vital role their service animals play in their lives,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert A. McDonald. that patient care, patient safety, and infection control standards are not compromised. In accordance with required practices, the revised regulation was published in the Federal Register in November 2014, to obtain feedback from Veterans, advocacy organizations and other stakeholders. Over the next thirty days, VA will provide training to front line employees and ensure policies at all facilities are consistent with the new regulation.