Sen. Gayle Harrell has something to say about the under-construction Ardie R. Copas State Veterans’ Nursing Home in Tradition.
“We are so excited about it,” she said at a recent Florida Senate committee meeting. “I heard it’s on time and under budget.”
Harrell and other members of the Florida Senate Committee on Military, Veteran Affairs and Space got their first report from the new executive director of the Florida Department of Veteran Affairs, Daniel “Danny” Burgess Jr. That was toward the end of February at the committee’s first hearing for the 2019 legislative session. The state’s immediate need for more beds at the state veterans nursing homes topped discussions.
The state veterans department now has six veterans nursing homes with about 800 beds among them. A couple years ago the federal Department of Veteran Affairs – which is separate from the state’s – reported Florida needs about 4,000. Copas will add 120 beds to the network when opened. Additionally, the state took ownership of an out-of-use VA nursing home in Orlando that it will soon start rehabilitating. When opened, that as-yet-unnamed home will add 112 beds.
“Those (homes) are right around the corner,” Burgess told the committee members.
He said the Ardie R. Copas home is progressing nicely toward the planned opening in January next year. The Orlando home is projected to be opened about two months earlier.
In a telephone interview before the meeting, Harrell said oversight of the Copas construction is a top priority to her this legislative session.
“I’m going to be watching very carefully as we have a new director of (the state veterans department),” Harrell said. “He understands how important our nursing homes are.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Burgess to lead the state veterans department shortly after taking office. The state cabinet confirmed him to the position in February. The state Senate will have to confirm him during this or the next legislative session.
Harrell’s husband, Dr. James “Jim” Harrell, died last year after numerous health struggles. “As you know, my husband was a Vietnam vet and Agent Orange probably had a lot to do with his many illnesses,” she told St. Lucie Voice.
Caring for Vietnam-era veterans is a large reason the state needs about five times as many veterans nursing home beds.
Burgess told the committee that there are 800,000 veterans ages 65 and older in Florida – a bit more than half of all veterans in the Sunshine State. He said about 520,000 are Vietnam-era veterans. About a third of the veterans in Florida are Vietnam-era.
“That’s our largest (veteran) population,” he told the committee.
Wayne Teegardin, who runs the county’s veteran services, said there are about 25,000 St. Lucie veterans receiving VA benefits. Those benefits range from enrollment for healthcare at the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center to getting student benefits to attend Indian River State College. That’s not the total number of veterans in St. Lucie – it’s only those the VA can count through benefits enrollments.
“We have a core group of retirees who aren’t receiving any benefits and we know they’re there,” Teegardin said in a phone interview.
That means St. Lucie probably has about 15,000 to 20,000 veterans over the age of 65.
The state veterans nursing homes are opened to all veterans who are residents of Florida and meet certain criteria such as honorable discharges. A St. Lucie resident could be placed at, say, the Emory L. Bennett State Veterans’ Nursing Home in Daytona Beach. Families generally prefer the closest home with room. That’s a rub, because the homes stay at capacity. The more that get built, the more likely will be a nearby home with space.
“What do we have coming down the pipeline that we can anticipate additional nursing homes being opened across the state?” Harrell asked Burgess at the committee meeting. “What is the timeframe and what can we do to expedite that?”
Burgess said the Florida Department of Veteran Affairs is focused on finishing the Copas and Orlando homes and is not poised to ask the state Legislature to start the next site search.
“The challenge will be the funding – not just the construction costs but the staffing,” he told Harrell at the meeting.
Florida now has the third largest population of veterans, and it will likely soon overtake Texas for the number two spot. In addition to normal population growth through migration, the state aggressively markets itself to veterans for relocation through Veterans Florida.
The committee chairman, Tom Wright – whose district includes parts of Volusia and Brevard counties – hinted that Copas is likely to be the last state veterans nursing home built for a long time even as the population of veterans grows.
“It is going to be a situation that’s getting out of control and I don’t know what we can do,” he said at the meeting.
