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Yuma, Ariz., Vets Say Nursing Home Needed Here, Too

Posted on: Monday, 16 January 2006, 18:00 CST

By Michelle Volkmann, The Sun, Yuma, Ariz.

Jan. 14--Plans are in motion to build a veterans nursing home in Tucson and a similar facility in Yuma may not be far behind.

"This isn't the end all. We need to look around the state and see where we need to move forward," Patrick Chorpenning, director of Arizona Department of Veterans' Services, said. "I think there is probably a need for one in Yuma."

But the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs selects the sites for new facilities based on demand and right now, the need is in Tucson.

"Once we get this one up and moving we may look at other places," Chorpenning said.

State Sen. Jim Waring, R-Phoenix, introduced a bill authorizing $10.05 million in state funding to help construct a 180-bed $28.7 million veterans nursing home in Tucson. It would be located on seven acres next to the federal VA hospital and would include a unit specifically for Alzheimer's disease patients.

The state's first and only nursing home was built in Phoenix in 1995. It has 200 beds.

The Tucson nursing home would serve veterans in Cochise, Graham, Greenlee, Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz and Yuma counties.

More than 66,000 veterans who live in these counties are at least 65 years old, according to the Governor's Veterans Task Force.

Nearly 600,000 veterans live in Arizona. It's estimated that 15,000 or 8 percent of Yuma County residents are veterans. In Pima County, it's 16 percent.

State Rep. Russ Jones, an Army veteran who is on the military affairs committee, said it may be time to look at Yuma's growing population of veterans.

"I wonder if it is significant enough to justify a second facility (hospital or nursing home). It would have to be analyzed," Jones said.

Dale Hiller, commander of American Legion Post No. 19, said a second nursing home in Tucson is a great idea.

"It's been needed for a long time," he said. "I know the one in Phoenix is pretty crowded."

Jones said this expansion is overdue.

"Unfortunately, for Yuma veterans, Tucson is farther than Phoenix," Jones said.

Sen. Robert Cannell, D-Yuma, and Rep. Amanda Aguirre, D-Yuma, could not immediately be reached for comment on Friday.

Mike Arnold, commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars No. 1763, said Tucson is too far for many people to travel or would want to move to. But it's unlikely that Yuma would get its own veterans home.

"It's a constant battle to get anything," Arnold said.

Jack "Semi" McConnell, member of the Rough Riders, a motorcycle club made up of veterans who help aging veterans, said it's important veterans have their own nursing home.

"Then they can be there in a home with people who have something in common with them," he said. "It's another way for our country to help our veterans, especially the World War II veterans."

Chorpenning said it is hard to know exactly when the Tucson nursing home would open. First, the state funds need to be approved. Then it can move forward in the federal process.

A year from now they will find out if they received the federal funding. Then it will be another to design the project and construction would start a year after that, Chorpenning said.

The state funding bill made it through the committee meeting on Thursday without any opposition, Chorpenning said.

"It's the highest priority for this office. It's the highest priority for the veterans of this state," he said

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Sun, Yuma, Ariz.

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Source: The Sun (Yuma, Ariz.)

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