Veterans Land Board Chairman Says Long-Term VA Facility ‘Very Best’ Tyler Morning Telegraph   |   May 01, 2009

The Texas Veterans Land Board announced Smith County will soon be home to a cutting-edge long-term care facility for Texas veterans.

"This veteran's home embodies a revolutionary approach to long-term care that I'm proud to be able to bring to Texas veterans," TVLB Chairman Jerry Patterson said in a news release.

"We're bringing the very best to Tyler. The Texas Veterans Land Board has now built seven of the finest long-term care facilities in Texas, but this home will be a cut above."

The new Texas State Veterans Home will have a big impact, said Merritt, a strong advocate for locating a long-term care facility for veterans in northeast Texas.

"I commend Commissioner Jerry Patterson and the Veterans Land Board for their tireless efforts to work with me and legislators in northeast Texas and local officials to place a Texas State Veterans Home in the area," Merritt said in a news release.

"This is a tremendous benefit for the region and exemplifies the advantages of working together as a region."

Unlike previous veteran homes, the new facility will consist of 10 cottages and one common building.
The design approach for each cottage focuses on drawing residents into social connection by mixing the best communal aspects of a home while still maintaining privacy and independence for residents.

An open kitchen, dining room and large table are at the heart of each of the 10 cottages.

Family-style meals will be served at the table and residents can enjoy each other's company afterward in a large living room with a fireplace.

This hearth, or communal heart of the home, is what sets this Texas State Veterans Home apart from any other long-term care facility in Texas.

"The kitchen is the heart of any home, and the new Texas State Veterans Home we're going to build in Smith County takes that into account," Patterson said in the release after the board voted unanimously to approve the project.

"Instead of one large, hospital-like facility, this home will consist of a cluster of small cottages built to draw residents into family-like social connections around the dinner table."

A total of 10 private rooms, each with its own bathroom, will flank the hearth. Each cottage will be set up as a "non-lift" facility, where overhead tracks with slings in each resident's room will provide safe transport of non-ambulatory residents from bed to bath.

"If this sounds like a Cadillac of a long-term care facility, it's because it will be," Patterson said. "Texas veterans deserve nothing less."

The newest veteran's home will be built on 20 acres donated by the University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler. The donated land is just north of the Health Science Center, along the west side of Highway 155, just south of County Road 334.

"Our campus is very excited to work with Veterans Land Board in bringing this advanced facility to Texas," said Dr. Kirk Calhoun, president of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler, in a news release.

"This will complement the Health Science Center's rural geriatric and community health activities in the region."

The home will be built with a grant of about $12 million from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, with the remaining 35 percent paid for by the Texas Veterans Land Board.

The home will join seven others across the state in Amarillo, Big Spring, Bonham, El Paso, Floresville, McAllen and Temple.

The board approved Touchstone Communities to manage the facility.

Touchstone Communities, which has its headquarters in San Antonio, provides health care services, including skilled-nursing care, assisted living, Alzheimer's care and rehabilitative services.

Touchstone manages Texas State Veterans Homes in Amarillo, Bonham, Floresville and Temple.

The homes offer a broad spectrum of health care services, comprehensive rehabilitation programs, special diets, recreational activities, social services, libraries, and certified, secured Alzheimer's units, each with its own secured outdoor courtyard.

Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, said he was thrilled that after several years of hard work to build the facility on the UT Health Center campus, it has finally become a reality.

"Everyone who worked on this project from Dr. Calhoun to Reps. Merritt, Homer, Flynn, Ross and Hopson deserve a lot of credit for their accomplishment," he said.

Patterson said the facility will benefit veterans from around the state and become a "nexus for veterans group because (veterans) are a family."

He said construction could begin within the next few months.

"The veterans have earned this," he said.