IVINS – With the final hurdle of federal approval surpassed, construction can begin on the Washington County Veterans Nursing Home.
Approved on the state-level in April, the proposed location for the new veterans facility still needed to clear federal scrutiny. Studies involving environmental impact, and the overall viability of the property donated by City of Ivins, were conducted. With the recent and satisfactory conclusion of these studies, the US Department of Veterans Affairs has given the green light.
“Its full steam ahead now,” Dennis McFall, Deputy Director of the Utah Department of Veterans Affairs, said.
“We hope to have it done by 2013,” Ivins Mayor Chris Hart said.
Hart anticipates a highly aggressive construction period over the next 13 months.
“It’s a really significant facility,” Hart said.
He noted that the veterans home would have a quality of medical area that will be of a higher standard than that found in similar facilities.
The veterans home will be located near the corner of 200 East and 200 West in the City of Ivins. It will be a 108-bed facility and cover an area of 100,000 square feet on a 10-acre parcel of land.
The veterans home will employ 150 full-time and part-time employees, and is estimated to bring in an annual amount of $6 million into the local economy once completed.
The official groundbreaking ceremony will take place on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, commencing at 11 a.m.
Financial donations towards the construction of the veterans home are welcome and encouraged. An online guide is provided via the Veterans’ Coalition of Southern Utah for those interested in donating.
For more information on the Veterans’ Nursing Home or Veterans’ Affairs, visit the Utah Department of Veterans’ Affairs website.
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3 Comments on "Washington County Veterans Nursing Home to break ground on Veterans Day"
But why isn’t there a Veteran’s HOSPITAL here in St George? The nearest one is in Vegas – but you have to be registered in the NEVADA VA system in order to be seen there…..which of course means you can’t use the VA Clinic here in St George because that falls under the Utah VA system. A Vet has to travel to SLC to be seen for anything more than a minor cold / check up.
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The whole thing is rubbish. I’m curious as to how many nursing home-ridden vets (that qualify for the benefits) live in Washington County, and how many more (fewer?) would use it. Expanding the clinic to have full-time, local doctors or building a hospital, or – even better – staffing the local IMC variant with some VA Doctors, would be much more preferable than this nursing home.
Too bad its the old folks with the pocket books and the political pull.
I agree with Not A Mormon, where do they expect Vets to go if they need hospital care? The reason there is no VA hospital here, or any OTHER type of hospital is most likely due to IHC. The University of Utah Healthcare wanted to build a Hospital here in St. George. Which would have been great for Washington County, and would have meant we don’t have to depend on IHC solely for healthcare. Plus University Healthcare is one of the best in the state and it would be a great asset to the intern community, as it would be a teaching hospital. But of course, the good ol boys that run this town, who most have ties with IHC, in the same wards, went to the same church, etc. made sure that would never happen. And so, Vets are stuck going to SLC for healthcare, and everyone else is stuck with IHC for all it’s medical needs.
St. George has a very high concentration of vets. Many of them are older vets (WW II, Korea and Vietnam).