New vets home comes under fire

Jace Radke

Wednesday, April 24, 2002 | 9:45 a.m.

The long-delayed Southern Nevada Veterans Nursing Home in Boulder City is scheduled to open in July, but some are wondering if the facility will meet veterans' needs.

Ed Gobel, president of the Council of Nevada Veterans Organizations, continues to say that the home is mismanaged and over budget and that it won't meet the needs of the sick and infirm veterans of Southern Nevada.

"We need changes right away," Gobel said at a Tuesday press conference at the Lowden Veteran Center and Museum. "It's a handicap-unfriendly facility that has only one commode for every four people."

The completion date of the 180-bed home, originally scheduled to open in January 2001, has been continually moved back because of problems with contractor Addison Inc. The cost of the project is hovering around $21 million, about $1 million over budget.

Gobel said he has been frustrated by the home's small closets, desks that don't allow for wheelchair access and televisions not easily viewed from beds.

John Sias, director of the home, said the facility will meet all federal and state standards as well as guidelines set by the Americans with Disabilities Act. There is a staff of about 30 working at the facility, despite there being no patients.

"We started hiring with the idea that we would open in July 2001," Sias said. "You don't hire highly trained professionals overnight, and we've been working hard every day to get the policies and procedures we'll need in place."

The desks meet ADA standards, and one bathroom shared by four people -- many of whom will be bedridden -- meets industry standards, Sias said.

Patti Kaufman, who was recently fired from her job as recreation director at the home, said she was embarrassed to take veterans and their families on tours of the home.

Kaufman said she was fired because she disagreed with the way the home is being managed. Sias would not comment on her firing, calling it a personnel matter.

There is a waiting list with 120 names on it to get into the home, and more than 350 applications have been requested, Sias said.

"Maybe 50 applicants have died while waiting for the home to open, so whatever frustration we or anyone else feels pales in comparison," Sias said.

Dan O'Brien, manager of the state Public Works Board, expects the first residents to move into the home in July.

"We're getting so close I can taste it," O'Brien said. "We're about three weeks away from completing construction and contracting a crew to clean everything up."

archive