Veterans home looks forward to third wing

Dan Kulin

Thursday, Aug. 14, 2003 | 9:51 a.m.

A year after the first handful of veterans moved into the Nevada Veterans Nursing Home in Boulder City, the facility is moving patients into its second wing, and officials say the home could open its third and last wing by the end of the year.

The home, the only one of its kind for veterans in Nevada, opened a year behind schedule, cost about $1 million more than expected and has seen three top administrators since it opened last August.

"We have certainly gone through a lot of changes, but this is an unusual animal," said Myra Davis, spokeswoman and volunteer coordinator for the home.

But some local veterans said the current and expected movement toward filling the home is a good sign.

"They're moving them in as quick as they can, which is good because they've had a long waiting list for a long time," Robert Garlow, commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Boulder City, said. "This means that more of the veterans will be able to move in and be provided for."

The nursing home opened its second 60-bed wing in late July, and the last wing of the home will probably begin accepting patients in December or early January, Davis said.

The home would be opening beds faster if a nationwide shortage of nurses weren't slowing its ability to hire nurses, Davis said.

The home has 77 residents and a few more are moved in every couple of days. The home should have 120 residents by mid-September, Davis said.

However, the new beds aren't expected to put a dent in the long waiting list for the home, Davis said.

"We have 120 on the waiting list and still have more applications pending," Davis said. "As soon as we take one off we put another one on."

To further address the veterans population's growing need for nursing home beds, the Veterans Affairs Department is considering building a 120-bed nursing home as part of a proposed new VA clinic and hospital campus.

But for now, Garlow and some others say the progress of the home in Boulder City is helping the situation.

Ed Gobel, president of the Council of Nevada Veterans Associations and a critic of the Boulder City facility, said any news of the home accepting more patients is bad news.

"It shouldn't have been opened," he said. Gobel has complained the facility doesn't have enough showers or bathrooms and has problems with handicapped accessibility in patients' rooms.

But others disagreed.

Allen Rifkin, an officer with the Las Vegas Jewish War Veterans post, said the Boulder City home is on the right track and a nice facility.

"It's beautiful," he said.

Garlow said he thinks it serves the veterans well.

"I think it's a very well designed facility," Garlow said.