These elected officials, our senators, have just cheated all Utah citizens out of owning a brand-new, state-of-the-art, $15 million veterans' nursing home for an investment of only $4.5 million. The Veteran's Administration has determined that, based on the last U.S. census, Utah has a current need of 320 dedicated nursing home beds for veterans, who would then receive care under VA guidelines to meet their special needs.
But the leadership of the Utah Senate has fought such a petty battle that Utah's veterans are again sacrificed, and for what? Sorry, folks, but I just don't understand.
To explain: All of Utah's veterans' service organizations collectively asked the Utah Legislature to obligate $4.5 million during the just-completed legislative session, to which the VA would provide a matching $8.2 million to build a new, fully outfitted 120-bed veteran's nursing home on land already donated through the efforts of Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch in the Ogden/Weber County area.
The citizens of Utah would have become owners of this new facility. It would have brought into Utah coffers an additional $2.6 million per year for the life of the facility in VA per diem payments of approximately $60 per day, per resident.
The facility would have paid back Utah's investment in just over two years after opening its doors, to say nothing of the cost of placing those same veterans onto Utah Medicaid rolls once they divested themselves and their families of most of what they have spent a lifetime building in order to qualify for residence in a private nursing home that would not provide near the level of care the veteran should get.
Our greatest fear has been realized in that some other state will now very likely get the matching VA dollars. The matching funds and the VA per diem monies would only have come into Utah coffers had this facility been funded during this legislative session. Veterans cannot receive the VA per diem if they reside in a privately owned and operated facility.
But Senate leadership couldn't see the benefit of providing for our aging veterans in a manner befitting their sacrifices for the freedoms we each enjoy on a daily basis. Members of the House of Representatives unanimously voted for this bill.
Earlier, I spoke of veterans' special needs. War is a terrible business that scars one not only on the outside, but into the very soul. Veterans who wondered whether they would live to see another day, or even the end of the current one, often have lifelong psychological traumas of combat besides the loss of limbs, eyes and spirit. These are the sacrifices of war and peace. These are the sacrifices of serving one's country.
We haven't begun to see the effects on those who are returning from the war on terrorism.
Another player in this mix threw up roadblocks against this much-needed project. The Utah Healthcare Association and its hired guns kept trying to talk legislators into leasing one of its 45- to 50-year-old facilities at an unspecified cost. This organization wants a sole-source lease contract in defiance of Utah statute.
How could we place our veterans into such an old facility. The only thought that comes to mind is pure profit, profit before patriotism. What a shame.
By thwarting the efforts of veterans organizations to get nursing home funds, the UHA has cheated one of its members out of approximately $5 million per year to manage the new nursing home under VA, federal and state guidelines. They have also cheated Utahns out of approximately 200 new jobs in northern Utah, many of them highly skilled positions.
Why is it that the budget must be balanced on the backs of veterans who have already given so very much? All most veterans wish in their later years is to be left with a bit of dignity. They have already paid the price.
I want to thank those who championed this project: bill sponsors Rep. Gregg Buxton, R-Roy; Rep. Greg Hughes, R-Draper; and Sen. Dave Thomas, R-South Weber.
Veterans who were on the Hill daily: George Wahlen, Utah's only living recipient of the Medal of Honor; Terry Schow, director of the Utah Division of Veteran's Affairs; Frank Maughan, commander of Utah's Disabled American Veterans; Johnnie Janes, Utah's Veterans of Foreign Wars; and Dennis McFall, who has managed the current veteran's nursing home on the campus of the VA Medical Center in Salt Lake City.
I do wish that our senators had voted for a great investment in Utah's future. We urge them to do so if they have the opportunity during April's special session.
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Bob Jones is commander of the American Legion of Utah.
