The under-construction Ardie R. Copas State Veterans’ Nursing in Tradition is about 60 percent done and already faces a problem when it opens. State Sen. Gayle Harrell, who represents St. Lucie County, asked about it at the inaugural meeting of the Florida Senate Committee on Military and Veterans Affairs and Space for the 2020 legislative session.
“We have a big shortage of nurses,” she said at the Tallahassee meeting.
Harrell was questioning Daniel “Danny” Burgess Jr., the executive director of the Florida Department of Veteran Affairs. The department is similarly named to the federal Department of Veteran Affairs, but is separate. Burgess was giving the committee an update about the department at the Oct. 16 meeting.
Harrell continued, “The salaries that we’re offering seem to be not competitive in our local arena. How are we addressing that? And do you have any suggestions of what we need to do legislatively to address that?”
Burgess was blunt.
“It is real,” he replied to Harrell. “There is definitely an issue with retention and recruitment (of nurses to work at state veterans homes), because in the private sector you have strong competition. You have bonuses you’re competing with.”
The state veterans department runs the veterans nursing homes. There are now six in Florida, along with a domiciliary which has a lower level of medical attention than the nursing homes. In addition to building the Copas home in Port St. Lucie, the veterans department is renovating a former federal VA nursing home in Orlando that will open about the same time as Copas. Burgess said both should open by next summer.
At press time the Florida Department of Veteran Affairs is advertising openings at five of its six nursing homes. The advertised openings range from food support worker in two veterans homes to a senior registered nurse supervisor in one. Additionally, the state is looking to hire at least three registered nurses and three licensed practical nurses, along with certified nursing assistants and other positions. The salaries range from about $18,260 to $47,840 a year. In fiscal year 2017-2018, the last year reported, the Division of State Veterans’ Homes paid $50.5 million in salaries and benefits.
The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity released its latest monthly employment report on Oct. 18. It covered the month of September. According to the report from September 2018 to September 2019, education and health was the industry that gained the most jobs, 59,600, up 4.5 percent. In that time, St. Lucie and Martin counties, the Port St. Lucie Metropolitan Statistical Area, added 900 jobs in the education and health industry sector. Hiring for non-senior positions at the Copas home will start next year.
“The initial hiring will take place in January and again open up around mid-2020,” Burgess told the committee.
At the meeting he didn’t recommend or reject that the committee increase the wages and salaries of workers at the state veterans nursing homes during the coming legislative session. He said the state veterans department is exploring options.
“We do have to look at ways we can be competitive and market our services and benefits (to employees),” he said.
“We have established a program, an education program, for our (certified nursing assistants) to help them become certified and train them up. Our hope Is in return they’ll stay with us. We’ve had some success with that program.”
When it’s complete, the Copas state veterans home will have 120 beds. Harrell is going into her second year on the state senate committee.
Burgess is going into his second year as the executive director of the state veterans department.
