Veterans Home taking applications for assisted living unit
Posted on Saturday, March 22, 2008
The Fayetteville Veterans Home is opening a domiciliary floor for residents who do not require bedside nursing care and are capable of daily self-care, officials announced Wednesday.
Officials are accepting applications for the 55 available beds on the fifth floor of the former Washington County Regional Medical Center building, where the Veterans Home occupies the fifth and sixth floors.
Were opening just as soon as I get some residents, some applications, Administrator Nadine Huddleston said Wednesday.
The domiciliary floor is for people who can take care of their own personal needs.
We provide them a place to eat and sleep; we provide activities. Its similar to assisted living, Huddleston said. Its just a different avenue to offer services to the veterans in Northwest Arkansas.
She said there are plans to allow these residents to have their own transportation.
Once an application has been received for the domiciliary floor, the person will be contacted for an interview. Qualifications for residency in the unit require that veterans be honorably discharged (at a minimum, they must meet Department of Veterans Affairs pension guidelines ), be able to pay a monthly established maintenance fee and have no criminal record. Preference will be given to Arkansas residents.
Huddleston said there are a variety of reasons veterans who can take care of their daily needs choose assisted living care.
Camaraderie, she said.
Some need people to manage their medications. Families of some veterans tell her that their loved ones are lonely, she said.
They want someone to talk to, she said. Some of them live in predominantly womenfilled apartments and complexes. They like to be around more men that they can share their military stories with. We primarily have men, but we do have women.
She said veterans who get together have an automatic camaraderie by the mere fact that they served their country and they understand what it was like to be in war, in the trenches and to depend upon each other for their very life.
The Fayetteville Veterans Home also continues to operate a 53-bed skilled nursing unit on the sixth floor. There are 47 residents in that unit, Huddleston said.
The Veterans Home opened June 21, 2006. Plans for the domiciliary unit have been in the works for quite a while, Huddleston said.
Applications for the domiciliary floor may be picked up at the Fayetteville Veterans Home, 1125 N. College Ave., or by calling (479 ) 444-7001. Those interested may also send e-mail to Nadine. Huddleston @ arkansas. gov for more information.
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