Posted on: Friday, June 10, 2005
Veterans home receives $20M
By Dennis Camire
Advertiser Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — The Veterans Affairs Department is sending a $20 million grant to the state of Hawai'i to pay for its share of the costs in constructing a new state veterans nursing home in Hilo, the state's two senators said yesterday.
The money is the VA's 65 percent share of the cost for building the 95-bed home, which also will include adult day healthcare. The state is paying the remaining 35 percent.
"I am pleased to see this facility becoming a reality, as it reflects the collaborative efforts of federal, state and county officials, as well as Hawai'i's veterans' community," said Sen. Daniel Akaka of Hawai'i, the top Democrat on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.
Groundbreaking for the veterans home, to be built on the site of an old Hilo hospital building that went up in 1952, is scheduled for Aug. 16, said Delbert Nishimoto of Hilo, chairman of the advisory board for the state Office of Veterans Services. The first resident is expected at the home on Dec. 31, 2006, he said.
"It is actually ahead of schedule and we were waiting on this money," Nishimoto said. "It arrived with perfect timing."
Hawai'i County Mayor Harry Kim said the new home, expected to cost about $32 million, isn't just for Hilo.
"It's a veterans home for the state," he said. "The only concern here now is that ... it may not be enough. But that is OK because the design allows for expansion."
Sen. Dan Inouye of Hawai'i, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee, said the VA money keeps a commitment to care for older veterans.
"They willingly stepped forward to put themselves at risk when they were asked to do so and now we can assist them in their time of need through this new facility," he said.
Edward R. Cruickshank, director of the Office of Veterans Services, said getting the money for the state home was "fabulous."
"We're going to have 95 beds, and the bottom line is that we're going to be able to take care of our veterans in their aging years," he said.
The new state veterans home would be the first one in Hawai'i, which has a veterans population of about 112,000. The only other long-term-care facility for veterans in the state is a 60-resident VA nursing home in Honolulu.
Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawai'i, called the state veterans home "the single most important VA initiative in Hawai'i today" and was pleased with the release of the money.
"It's going to be a major contribution to veteran needs in my district and throughout Hawai'i," he said.
Concerns arose earlier this year about the viability of the state veterans home program when President Bush's budget request for next year slashed money for state grants — such as the money Hawai'i is receiving — by $104 million and drastically cut federal financial support for operating the homes.
"Clearly this is not a favorite program (for the administration) at all," Case said.
But Congress has held firm so far and rejected cuts to the operational support of the homes. However, the construction grant program has been cut in the House VA spending bill for next year to $25 million from $105 million this year.
"In light of the president's proposals for state veterans homes, I will be fighting to make sure that the operating funds flow from the VA without interruption," Akaka said.
