Utah veterans look for land in Spanish Fork for nursing home

(Daily Herald) As age and injuries catch up with generations of World War II and Korean War veterans, the sheer volume of infirm veterans is starting to catch up with Utah's veteran facilities.

The Utah Department of Veteran's Affairs hopes to build two new 75,000-square-foot nursing homes with 100 beds apiece for the Utah soldiers that need them most. Spanish Fork City officials are scrambling for land to play host to one of them.

"Per capita for nursing homes, we're one of the lowest in the nation," said Bill Christoffersen, a Utah American Legion officer and WWII veteran. "Idaho has four."

The Utah VA just opened its second nursing home, in Ogden, last week. That, along with future sites in Utah County and the St. George/Cedar City area, will hopefully ease the strain on what was the state VA's lone 86-bed nursing home in Salt Lake City, where the standing wait-list is often two years long.

The skilled-nurse facility would house private rooms with private bathrooms at a VA-subsidized cost of $2,370/month -- a steal compared to the $6,500/month national average for civilian nursing homes, Utah VA deputy director and former Army sergeant Dennis McFall said. The five-building complex would also feature dining halls, therapy and rehab centers, a chapel and multi-purpose rooms.

Having the camaraderie of fellow soldiers nearby is important to the veterans, McFall said. However, the cost of one facility is projected at $17.5 million.

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