This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2005, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Utah veterans asked the Capital Facilities Appropriations Subcommittee for help building a 120-bed nursing home Thursday. "The need is already there," said Terry Schow, director of the State Division of Veterans Affairs. Census figures show Utah is home to about 160,000 veterans, 65,000 of whom are 65 or older. If the state will pay $4.5 million to build the nursing home on 10 acres of donated land west of the Weber County Fairgrounds, the federal government will pay $2.6 million annually to care for the veterans. Unless the building is owned by the state, the VA will not pay that money. "This is a segment of the population in our state who won't be able to afford to have nursing home care unless the federal government helps them pay for it," said Frank Maughan, state commander of the Disabled American Veterans. Committee members took no action on the request Thursday. -Rebecca Walsh
