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TALLAHASSEE - At one time, the idea of a 120-bed
veteran’s nursing home in St. Johns County
seemed like a slam dunk.
Gov. Jeb Bush first pitched $15.6 million for it
in January 2006. The Legislature upped it to
$17.9 million a few months later. State
officials pulled off a coup by winning federal
funds for 65 percent of the project through the
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, meaning
only $6 million was needed from state coffers.
An opening date was scheduled for late 2008.
In the past year and a half, however, federal
budget woes and bureaucratic snafus have
entangled the project, pushing back the opening
to late 2009 and pushing up the price tag to
$28.6 million. The Legislature reacted this past
spring, allocating another $4 million to boost
the state's share to $10 million.
While the project isn't in crisis mode, it has
become a source of frustration for local and
state officials who are eager to help the area's
military families.
"It's not like it's not going to happen. It's
just happening like molasses, like much of our
government works," said Rep. Jennifer Carroll,
R-Green Cove Springs, who lobbied for the
project while serving as Florida's state
veteran’s secretary in 2003.
The dispute began with a mandate last year by
federal officials that the facility's original
plan of two veterans per room was inadequate,
and that only single-occupancy rooms were
allowed. State leaders protested, arguing that
veterans prefer the companionship and safety of
double-occupancy rooms, especially since many
were growing older and frailer. The other
problem: The VA simply ran out of money and
notified the state in December that it would be
yanking its $11.6 million share of the project.
"It is critically important that this facility
be built," said Rep. Stan Jordan,
R-Jacksonville, chairman of the House Military &
Veterans' Affairs Committee. "Until this
one-to-a-room thing is resolved, this is going
to be a disappointment. Having two people per
room not only doubles your capacity, it adds
another level for care because they can look out
for each other. I don't know how they came up
with this. It defies logic." |
