Study proposed for vets nursing home

RENO - Nevada lawmakers are being asked to approve money to build a Northern Nevada nursing home for veterans, veterans' spouses and parents whose children have died in combat.

Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval has proposed a $3 million feasibility and design study for a veterans nursing facility in the Reno-Sparks area.

If the Legislature approves the plan and the state builds the project, Nevada taxpayers would pick up one-third of the cost and the federal Veterans Administration would pay the rest, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported.

The cost of the project has not been determined.

Katherine Miller, deputy executive director for the Nevada Office of Veterans Services, said the state could offset costs by seeking grants and donations from veterans groups.

"We are currently 99th on the Veterans Affairs priority list. If the state comes up with the 35 percent matching funds, we will go up on that priority list significantly," she said.

Construction on the proposed 90-bed facility could begin by 2017, Miller said.

Democratic Assemblywoman Teresa Benitez-Thompson of Reno said addressing the need was "long overdue."

The southern part of the state has a 180-bed veterans nursing home in Boulder City, and Assembly Minority Leader Pat Hickey, R-Reno, said the state shouldn't favor one area over another in services to veterans.

Army veteran Charely Smith, 60, said she sees a need for the facility.

"Nevada has one of the highest veterans population, percentage-wise, of any state in the country and yet, we have no place to care for them, long term, particularly in Northern Nevada," she said.