Vets home gets Davis' OK

FARMINGTON — Chalk up the Davis County commissioners as the latest group to publicly support a veterans nursing home in northern Utah.

The Box Elder, Davis and Weber County commissions all have recently passed resolutions in support of the $12.3 million facility.

But support at the state level is a little harder to come by.

"Everyone says they support us, but will they actually give us the money? We'll see," said Bob Jones, state commander of the Utah American Legion.

It's the fourth year the veterans have lobbied the Utah Legislature for $4.5 million to help fund a nursing home in Weber County. Every year they come to the Capitol, and every year they leave without funding.

Things are looking up this year, Jones said. The veterans finally found someone to sponsor a bill officially asking for the money. No one has sponsored such a bill the past three years.

Rep. D. Gregg Buxton, R-Roy, sponsored HB241 to support Utah's veterans, he said.

"They've served their time on our behalf, and the government said we'd always take care of them," Buxton said Friday. "These men put their lives on the line for us; this is the least we can do for them."

The bill made it through the House Health and Human Services Committee on Friday with a favorable recommendation and will now move on to the House floor.

If approved, HB241 would give the veterans $4.5 million to construct a new nursing home on about 10 acres of the old Defense Depot in Ogden.

The $12.3 million project would be largely funded by a federal grant. But the state must contribute its share in order to secure the federal funding.

"If you wait, the dollars may not be there," said Terry Schow, director of the Utah Division of Veterans Affairs. "For some reason it's been a struggle to get funding."

The state currently runs one veterans nursing home, with a list of about 125 people waiting for care, Schow said. The 80-bed Salt Lake facility has been running at capacity since it opened in 1998.

If built, the Weber County veterans nursing home would have 120 beds and serve veterans in Box Elder, Cache, Davis and Weber counties, although all veterans are welcome, Jones said.

In 2001, the state's over-65 veteran population reached 49,000. In the coming years, experts believe that age group will represent 41 percent of the total number of veterans in the state. With those increasing numbers, local veterans groups are looking at other locations for nursing homes. Future nursing home sites are slated for southern and central Utah, according to the Utah Division of Veterans Affairs Home Strategic Plan.

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E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com