Construction and inspection snags have delayed the opening of the new state-run retirement home for veterans in North Little Rock.
Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs leaders expected the Arkansas State Veterans Home at North Little Rock to open earlier this month. The projected opening date, however, has moved to Jan. 3, but the first occupants won't move in until a later date.
"The fact is that it was a very big project, and all big projects are susceptible to delays that sometimes can't be avoided," Lindsey Clyburn, the administrator of the home, said.
The home is Arkansas' first long-term care center built specifically with veterans in mind. The state runs a sister home in Fayetteville, but it is located in a re-purposed wing of the former main facility of the Washington Regional Medical Center.
The homes are open to veterans and their dependents. Occupants in such homes generally can pay privately or with assistance from Medicaid, Medicare and benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
The North Little Rock home, located on the Eugene J. Towbin Healthcare Center campus, will fill the gap left behind by the 2012 closing of the state's Veterans Home in Little Rock, which suffered from neglect and poor management.
The $24 million project features eight cottages that can house 12 residents each. It's one of only a handful of state-run veterans homes across the U.S. to employ a "small-home design."
Each occupant has his own room and bathroom and access to shared spaces that include a spa, salon, kitchen and laundry room.
Staff members are assigned to specific cottages and encouraged to develop relationships with the veterans.
The concept has been highly praised by nursing home watchdogs and veterans groups.
About 320 people expressed interest in the new home, and 90 applied. Two are approved to move in next month, and then the home will add two more occupants per week until it reaches six residents.
Those first six residents will be required to pay privately, but soon after the home will apply for its Medicare and Medicaid certification.
Once two homes reach capacity, the state Department of Veterans Affairs will apply for certification from the federal VA, allowing service disabled veterans to use their VA benefits to pay for care at the North Little Rock retirement center.
"It'll be a slow process," Sarah Jones, a spokesman for the state Veterans Affairs Department, said. "It will probably be a year before we're completely full."
Metro on 12/23/2016