Published October 25 2009
Hard sell for Beltrami County veterans home
Ranking 10th in a state report of needed veterans facilities
means a hard sell ahead for supporters of a Northern Minnesota
Veterans Home in Beltrami County.
By:
Brad Swenson, Bemidji Pioneer
Ranking 10th in a state report of needed veterans facilities
means a hard sell ahead for supporters of a Northern Minnesota
Veterans Home in Beltrami County.
“There has to be a
convergence of the political will and the public will for this
to happen,” Beltrami County Commissioner Joe Vene said
Saturday in an interview.
Vene chairs the Northern Minnesota Veterans Home Task Force
which since last winter has been working to gain federal and
state authority to build a veterans nursing facility in the
Bemidji area.
“The challenge will be in how to package the proposal,”
said Vene.
The task force has been awaiting a Legislature-authorized
study which prioritizes where new state-run veterans
facilities should be located. That report, “Community
Identification Study for a New Minnesota Veterans Home,”
released in late summer didn’t bode well for the northern
effort.
Using a number of criteria, the report said the best
location for a new home would be in central Minnesota, not
northern Minnesota, even though the greatest population of
veterans without nearby services is in northern Minnesota.
The report listed Little Falls as its top recommendation,
followed by Brainerd and Crosby. Bemidji ranked 10th of 17
sites. Bagley was right behind at 11th.
The study ranked criteria, in order, as mandatory
characteristics sought by the U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs, demographic and operational characteristics and
community assets.
Among the mandatory characteristics are that “veterans
homes be reasonably accessible to veterans medical
facilities,” the report states. That means a home needs to be
at least 100 minutes travel time away from an existing
veterans home, be within 60 minutes travel time from an
existing community-based outpatient clinic or a Veterans
Administration medical center, and have an acute care hospital
licensed by the state.
Even though Bemidji has a VA Community-Based Outpatient
Clinic, Vene believes central Minnesota scored better because
of its closeness to major VA medical centers in St. Cloud and
Minneapolis.
“The most important characteristic for successful operation
of a veterans home discussed in the study is access to a VAMC
and to a CBOC,” the report states. “Of these, access to a VAMC
is more important. A VAMC provides full medical services for
veterans and convenient facilities for operation of a veterans
home.”
Currently, there are only two veterans homes servicing
northern Minnesota, in Fergus Falls and Silver Bay. The task
force determined that 32,055 veterans live in a 14-county area
around Bemidji, which includes three American Indian
reservations.
What the study ranked higher was apparently those areas
where veterans were closest to major VA medical facilities,
rather than putting veterans homes where the greater
population of unserved vets live.
“Obviously, Bemidji is a regional center,” Vene said.
“There’s a convergence of people here from all over northern
Minnesota. Tremendously relevant is the pre-existence of the
veterans outpatient clinic and the immediate proximity of the
great Indian reservations Leech Lake, Red Lake and White Earth
from which a substantial veterans population will receive
service.”
Vene finds it ironic that the task force’s initial factor
in its support was that northern Minnesota is so far away from
existing veterans services is now working against the
proposal.
The report means that the Northern Minnesota Veterans Home
Task Force has a hard sell before it, but not an impossible
one, he said. A good proposal could hinge on making an active
partnership with a local hospital to provide VA-like services.
While not naming a facility, the most logical would be
North Country Health Services, especially if it put in its
five-year plans a dedicated 10-acre site for a Northern
Minnesota Veterans Home and worked out reimbursement details
with state and federal VA officials over care to vets.
“Hopefully the conclusion can be directed to bringing
services where the need exists rather than bringing people far
away to services that exist,” Vene said.
“We do have all of the pre-existing vehicles,” Vene said.
“We have here the hospital, we have ambulance service, we have
the clinic, we have Indian Health Service, we have a very
active social senior center, we have the training programs for
nursing at BSU, we have the allied health care training at the
technical college.
“It seems to me that the stars line up perfectly as far as
a community being able to be the natural place for a veterans
home,” Vene said, “not the least of which it is a destination
point for all of northern Minnesota.”
Vene said a task force delegation met with state Department
of Veterans Affairs officials Oct. 9 about the study,
conducted by Engan Associates and Ulteig of Willmar. It
included Vene, Beltrami County Board Chairman Jim Lucachick,
County Administrator Tony Murphy, task force associate
chairman Dr. Ralph Morris and Lake of the Woods Veterans
Service Officer Rick Rone, who is also mayor of Baudette.
The challenge will be tipping the scales in favor of
Bemidji by providing a 10-acre building site with proximity to
pre-existing medical facilities and services, Vene said, “and
inducements to get legislative approval to site a veterans
home for northern Minnesota.”
A local partnership needs to be forged, he said,. “Would a
local hospital be willing to assert that, yes, a veterans home
is part of their medical future plans for their medical campus
or not?”
Vene plans to call a meeting soon of the task force to gain
input on the next steps.
“We will meet to talk about what ought to be our strategy
in terms of pursuing the goal of bringing the veterans home to
reality, to reassert the public will and also to discern what
is the political will,” Vene said.
The task force must submit a proposal by April to the
federal Department of Veterans Affairs to get in line for a
home, with that agency making the final decision which comes
with major construction funding. It will also likely ask for
state bonding funds, which can be used to match the federal
funds.
Also a question mark is state VA capacity to take on
operations of another veterans home, he said.
“It would be a high degree of probability to bring to
reality a veterans home here in Bemidji and Beltrami County if
we can come together and identify a site location,” Vene said.
“And if we can come together and say there are hospital
services available to us, and if we can see how a health care
facility, like a hospital, can black-line funding and
financing to provide veterans health care in a hospital
setting.”
The task force also hopes to seek a meeting with Rep. Al
Juhnke, DFL-Willmar, chairman of the House Agriculture, Rural
Economics and Veterans Affairs Committee.
The House Capital Investment Committee heard a pitch
earlier this month for bonding to convert the old Brainerd
Regional Treatment Center into a veterans home. Making the
pitch was former state Sen. Don Samuelson, DFL-Brainerd.
He said many of the buildings are in good shape and the
infrastructure (sewer and water) is there. He said a bonding
bill is one of the most important bills lawmakers will pass.
“You can put people to work right now,” Samuelson said, as
reported by the Brainerd Daily Dispatch.
Steve Rosenow, a retired veterans service officer, cited
the study that listed central Minnesota as the best location
for a veterans home.
Juhnke, a member of the bonding panel, said he was
disappointed in the study because it did not address all the
elements of the issue that were requested.
“The study is very thin on what we really need to address
care for the veterans,” he said in the Dispatch.
bswenson@bemidjipioneer.com
Peterson:
Process to get veterans home will be slow
Brad Swenson
Bemidji Pioneer - 02/22/2009
While local efforts mount to secure a Minnesota veterans home
in Bemidji, U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson warns not to expect
results any too quickly.
“The problem is it’s more than just us,” Peterson, DFL-7th
District, said last week in an interview. “It’s the process
within the Veterans Administration.”
A community task force is at work developing a pre-design
application to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs by an
April 15 deadline. But the application just puts the local
effort in the pile, which must rise in priority.
It also must be approved by the Minnesota Legislature, which
is awaiting an assessment of veterans home needs in Minnesota —
a study which has yet to begin.
The federal government will pay up to 65 percent of
construction costs, with a typical 90-bed home costing about $23
million. The rest would come as matching funds from local
sources or the state.
Peterson has worked with several 7th District cities to gain
veterans facilities, starting with a veterans home in Fergus
Falls, and with the Community Veterans Outpatient Satellite
Clinic in Bemidji.
“There’s other people vying for this money,” Peterson said,
with Willmar and Montevideo both seeking a veterans home. But it
goes farther than that, he said, as this VA district includes
several Midwest states.
The VA’s multi-state health care network, known as VISN 23,
is headed by Dr. Robert Petzel.
“Within that VISN, he has to rate things and what they look
at is where are the other veterans homes, where do the veterans
live, in trying to prioritize who’s going to be next on the
list,” Peterson said.
Meanwhile, the Detroit Lakes Democrat encourages the local
effort to continue.
“They’re doing what they need to do — they’re getting their
plans together, they’ve got their lobbying going,” Peterson
said. “But there’s a lot of competition.”
While projects in the whole VISN would be considered,
Peterson said it’s mostly Minnesota that is seeking facilities.
“It’s largely Minnesota, because what they look at… is where are
the other facilities.”
With veterans homes at Fergus Falls and Silver Bay, it’s that
large geographic hole that local officials are hoping will win a
veterans home for Bemidji.
“The more you do this, you open a clinic, the more homes you
build, the more business you get,” Peterson said. “And the more
it costs the government. And that is also figured into this.”
That could be where the Bemidji project stumbles the most,
Peterson said, as the federal government may not be able to
afford to operate any new veterans homes.
“We had the biggest increase in history in the veterans
budget,” said Peterson, chairman of the House Agriculture
Committee. “And that has helped. But, going forward … if we get
ourselves into so much debt, so much behind the 8-ball, this
will affect things like this veterans home.”
Peterson voted against the $787 billion economic stimulus
package because it does add to the national debt and there is no
plan to repay it. The House Blue Dogs, a conservative Democrat
caucus concerned about deficits, met with President Barack
Obama, who told them he didn’t plan on other large debt bill,
Peterson said.
“This is the last time we will have a big bill and not pay
for it,” Obama told the Blue Dogs. “Going forward, we’re going
to cut everything.”
That’s the mindset, Peterson said. “If that’s what they
follow through on, that means when the budget comes out, instead
of having increases, there’s going to be decreases. And that’s
going to put things like the veterans home — not just in Bemidji
but in general around the country — in jeopardy.
“It’s nice to have a veterans home and these people deserve
it, but they are other priorities that I think people will say
are higher priorities within the system,” he added.
Local officials are hoping that the economic stimulus bill
may contain funding for veterans home construction, but Peterson
said the bill does not. Still, the Bemidji proposal has merit.
“You should have a good case,.” Peterson said, but it might
take six to eight years for the project to rise in priority.
He also encourages the task force to brief Petzel on the
project at the VA regional level.
“It took us a long time in Fergus,” Peterson remembers. “I
worked on that in the state Legislature. I put in a bill in 1983
to build a veterans home in Fergus Falls. It finally got built
10, 15 years later.”
Rep. John Persell, DFL-Bemidji, who is carrying a bill for a
veterans home in Bemidji, remains more optimistic.
“I’m confident we’ll be all right with this thing,” Persell
said Wednesday in an interview in his St. Paul office. “It might
not happen overnight, I don’t think it will.”
While Peterson is a help as a major committee chairman,
Persell also points to Rep. Jim Oberstar, DFL-8th District, who
chairs the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee.
“Some of us are slightly more optimistic than Rep. Peterson,
and I would offer Rep. Oberstar has a little bit different take
on some of this stuff,” Persell said, including the possibility
of economic stimulus funds.
“It depends on where you’re sitting at any given time,” the
Bemidji Democrat said. “They’ll be very helpful — I’ve gotten
that from both of them.”
MEETING SUMMARY
Northern Minnesota Veterans Home Task Force
February 8, 2009 10:00 AM
Meeting held in the Commissioner Conference Room
County Administration Building, 701 Minnesota Avenue
Bemidji, Minnesota
Present: Joe Vene, Quentin Fairbanks, Julie Harris, Rita
Albrecht, Ralph Morris, Linda Yourczek, Robin
Helgager, Clare Elmer Kapphahn, Dave Sjostrom, John Liapis, Mike
Liapis, Mike Johnston, Larry Young,
Sandy Bensen, Robert Saddoris, Lee Coe, Kevin Waldhausen and Jim
Lucachick.
Call to Order
Chair Joe Vene called the meeting to order at 10:00 AM and
welcomed all the attendees. Introductions
were made for all meeting attendees.
Commissioner Vene suggested the group review the Commitment
Ceremony conducted on February 6th
at 4:30 PM at the National Guard Armory in Bemidji.
COMMITMENT CEREMONY
A “Commitment ceremony” for the veteran’s home was held on
February 6, 2009 at 4:30 PM at the National Guard Armory with
more than 300 people in attendance. The purpose of the ceremony
was to sign a commitment of support letter to be sent to
Minnesota’s congressional delegation that represents Beltrami
County. The ceremony also provided additional attention to the
effort and demonstrated a strong showing of regional support. In
addition, local dignitaries, veteran’s service clubs, and three
area
American Indian Reservations were represented.
Commissioner Vene asked participants for comments related to the
ceremony. It was noted that many positive comments were
exchanged throughout the group:
-
A large age range of
veteran’s in attendance.
-
Tribes represented was a
plus. Excellent kick-off.
-
The mayor of East Grand
Forks in attendance which indicated an area of wide
geographic interest.
-
Joe Vene indicated
additional telephone calls made to him throughout the week
prior to the ceremony expressing a well spring of support.
-
Added value to the project
with many groups coming together to form friendships and
collaboration.
Report of the
Pre-Design Committee
Commissioner Lucachick and Mike Johnston (MJ Architectural
Studios) reported on meeting two weeks ago in which a
suggestion had been made to make an onsite field visit to
the Fergus Falls Veterans Home. Also, Commander Robert
Saddoris of the DAV had made contact with staff of the
facility in anticipation of a visit to the Fergus Falls
facility. Interested persons were urged to contact the
commander of the visit. . A layout of the Fergus Falls
Veteran’s Home was given to the group by Julie
Harris. (See attached)
In addition, Dr. Ralph Morris recommended a field trip to
the Minnesota Veterans Home in Minneapolis along with Sandy
Bensen and Linda Yourczek
Mr. Johnson explained a narrative had been put together of
our main focus for the proposed veterans home. Our main
State of Minnesota contact is Everett Wright. Mr. Wright had
requested contacts be made by email regarding programming.
Location Committee Report
Commissioner Lucachick indicated the group was continuing to
look at several sites of 10-15 acre lots to determine a
workable location. Location criteria continue to be a hurdle
with several available areas being inventoried as possible
sites.
Possible Unique Services to be provided
Julie Harris recommended the group consider a short stay
wing over an all traditional long term care facility. She
indicated the need for short term stay in relation to PTSD
(Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) would make the veterans
home a unique prospect. Robin Helgager asked about specific
statistics to support the venture. Dr. Morris indicated PTSD
is a revolving process with a 3-6month length of stay for a
veteran being treated. An idea of a day drop-off area or day
programming was also expressed by Julie
Harris. Veteran Dave Sjostrom recommended the task force
consider the need for chemical dependency treatment in the
plan for the veterans. Julie Harris distributed a Geographic
Distribution of VA Expenditures for all counties to the
group (See attached).
Additional information
Commissioner Vene indicated he wanted to recognized and
commend the assistance to the focus group from Lori Paris,
Director of the Chamber of Commerce for Bemidji for her part
in advertising of the Veteran’s home. A special Thank You
Lori!
Commissioner Vene requested Mr. Cole ascribe a value to the
pro bono work that is being offered for the veteran’s home.
Veteran Mike Liapis shared with the group regarding the pro
bono web site sponsored through the American Legion Ralph
Gracie Post 14 in Bemidji. Mr. Liapis indicated interested
parties could access the web site at www.ralph.gracie14.org
Robin Helgager requested a list of the sub committees and a
handout was given to each member in attendance. (See
handout)
Ms. Helgager raised concerns regarding marketing and
clearinghouse for activities of the proposed Veteran’s Home.
Ms. Helgager indicated that not all resident’s had computer
access, and requested specific strategies for keeping people
informed in the community. Discussion from Mr. Vene
indicated the task force meetings were open to the public,
and information was funneled though Mr. Tony Murphy’s
office. He further indicated Mr. Murphy had offered the
administrative office of the county to
disseminate information. Ms. Helgager reminded the task
force the amount of time it will take to bring the Veterans
Home to the county and keeping the community engaged was
paramount in our success. It was agreed by the task force
that information would be distributed through the DAV
(Disabled American Veterans) group as well as Veteran’s
Service officers.
New Committee Formed
Dr. Morris informed the group of the addition of a newly
formed committee that would be responsible to the entire
focus group in providing information on a non-traditional
veteran home setting. The newly formed committee will be
referred to as the Research group. In addition to providing
information, the group will research cutting edge and new
innovations for nursing/veteran homes. The committee will
support the additional groups of the task force with
technical, medical issues such as PTSD, issues of not
just providing a bed and nursing care. Family, skilled
nursing facility issues, Homecare, Customized Living will
also be researched. Representing the newly formed committee
is Dr. Ralph Morris, Sandy Bensen, Linda Yourczek, RN, Clare
Kapphahn, Dave Sjostrom, Robin Helgager, and Kevin
Waldhausen.
Next Meeting
The next meeting of the Northern Minnesota Veterans Home
Task Force will be Saturday, March 9th at 10:00 AM in the
Commissioners Conference Room, County Administration
Building, 701 Minnesota Avenue, Bemidji. All Task Force
Members are invited to attend.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:00 AM.
Minutes by Linda Yourczek
Health & Human Services
Beltrami County
Pioneer Editorial:
Support is strong for vets home
Bemidji
Pioneer Editorial Board
Bemidji Pioneer
Published Sunday, February 08, 2009
If Friday evening’s rally of support
for a Minnesota veterans home is any indication of a solid base
of regional desire, then the Minnesota Legislature should have
no reason to deny the facility for northern Minnesota.
A commitment of support event held at
the Bemidji National Guard Armory drew 300 people to sign a
letter of support to Minnesota’s congressional delegation that
represents northern Minnesota. They will be asked to eventually
weigh into the project as the U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs prioritizes such projects nationwide. Typically, it
might take four or five years for a project to rise to the top,
but hopes are being placed on the current economic stimulus
package making its way through Congress, that it will accelerate
infrastructure projects such as new veterans homes.
While the Legislature may be
hard-pressed to decide this session as they await the results of
an assessment of needs for veterans facilities statewide, they
cannot deny that northern Minnesota is underserved. As Willmar
and Montevideo compete for facilities in their communities, it
needs to be noted that north-central Minnesota has only two
choices — Fergus Falls and Silver Bay, posted on opposite sides
of the state.
Locating a veterans home only makes
sense. There are large numbers of veterans and that sum is
growing as more local residents serve in Iraq and Afghanistan. A
facility here could specialize on the needs of those veterans
and their families. It could also serve as role model in
electronic medical records, cooperating with North Country
Regional Hospital which is one of the few rural medical
facilities whose medical records are already stored
electronically.
If successful, the federal government
would fund up to 65 percent of construction costs, with a
typical 90-bed facility costing an estimated $23 million. The
remainder would be needed as a local match, with the federal
government defining local match as any monies other than
federal.
Sen. Mary Olson, DFL-Bemidji, last
week authored a bill, with Rep. John Persell, DFL-Bemidji,
carrying the companion bill in the House, which would call on
state capital bonding for the local match. If the Legislature
even considers a bonding bill this session, it may not totally
fund the local share needed.
The local veterans home project needs
to consider that, and come up with plans to secure local funding
for the project. Times are tough, but the project is needed, and
perhaps some combination of local bonding could be secured with
the least impact to property taxpayers. Or perhaps there are
other ideas.
There is no doubt that a regional
veterans home located in Bemidji has widespread regional
support, including key support from the three surrounding
American Indian tribes — support that now needs to be translated
into votes in St. Paul.
Proposed
veterans nursing home in Bemidji area draws support
Brad Swenson
Bemidji Pioneer - 02/07/2009
East Grand Forks
Mayor Lynn Stauss only heard about Beltrami County’s effort to
site a Minnesota veterans home two days ago, but he couldn’t
miss Friday’s rally of support.
More than 300
people, many of them veterans wearing veteran uniform caps, came
Friday evening to sign a commitment of support letter to be sent
to Minnesota’s congressional delegation that represents Bemidji.
The community
seeks state and federal permission to construct a veteran’s
nursing home facility, typically a facility of 90 beds at $23
million, to serve northern Minnesota’s veteran population and
located in Bemidji, a regional center of health care providers.
“I wouldn’t miss
this meeting for anything, because this is for veterans,” Stauss
said after he signed a large version of the letter.
Stauss, a
Vietnam veteran, joins a host of regional veteran’s service
clubs who have given their support to the project. Members from
Thief River Falls serve on a veteran’s home task force, and Cass
Lake Mayor Wayne LaDuke came Friday to sign the commitment of
support.
“Now we have the
need for teamwork,” said Stauss. “No Democrats, no Republicans,
this is for the veterans. This is for the people who have served
our country. So let’s work together to make sure this can
happen.
“This is great
for Bemidji,” he added, “but more important it’s great for the
region and even more important than that, it’s great for the
veterans.”
Held at the
Bemidji National Guard Armory, a number of dignitaries signed a
large-sized letter at the head table, with a row of flags as a
backdrop, while the 300 members of the public who attended were
asked to sign copies of the letter posted on walls on both sides
of the Armory hall.
“The support for
veterans being shown today is overwhelming,” said Beltrami
County Commissioner Joe Vene, chairman of the project task
force. “We are here to demonstrate an ongoing commitment to
veterans and their families. Our community, our state, our
nation are grateful to veterans who have served, who are serving
or who will serve, and so dedicating their lives in defense of
freedom.”
The Beltrami
County-supported effort seeks authority from the Minnesota
Legislature, and then must submit a pre-design application to
the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs by April 15.
The process
might take years, as the project moves up in priority, but local
officials put some stock in the $825 billion economic stimulus
package in Congress that might accelerate projects such as
veteran homes ready to go.
The task force
has secured a local architectural firm to do the pre-design
application pro bono.
The Legislature
has authorized an assessment of veterans home facilities in
Minnesota, which local officials say will point to a gap in
services in northern Minnesota, but that study most likely won’t
be done before the April 15 deadline.
 |
Beltrami County Commissioner Joe Vene, standing,
visits with officials Friday evening as Sen. Mary Olson,
DFL-Bemidji, addresses about 300 people at the Bemidji
National Guard Armory in support of seeking at Minnesota
veterans home in the region. With Vene, chairman of the
effort, are from left Reps. John Persell, DFL-Bemidji,
and Brita Sailer, DFL-Park Rapids, and Leech Lake Tribal
Chairman Archie LaRose.
Pioneer Photo/Monte Draper |
Should Beltrami
County be successful, the federal VA would pay for 65 percent of
construction costs, leaving the rest as a local match, either
from the community or the state.
Sen. Mary Olson,
DFL-Bemidji, authored a bill Thursday which would use state
capital bonding “to establish a veterans facility in the city of
Bemidji that provides both veterans geriatric supervised living
and veterans mental health services.” No amount is specified, as
the amount of local funding, if any, has been determined.
The bill is
co-authored by Sens. Rod Skoe, DFL-Clearbrook, who signed the
commitment of support Friday, and Tom Saxhaug, DFL-Grand Rapids.
Rep. John
Persell, DFL-Bemidji, bedecked in his Legion color guard uniform
and a signed of the commitment of support, is author of the
companion bill in the Minnesota House, with Rep. Larry Howes,
R-Walker, a co-author.
“We advocate the
location and siting of a veterans home in northern Minnesota
where today we find a large population of undeserved citizens,
and along with them, a significant number of veterans whose
needs have not been or not being fully met,” Vene said.
The only
veteran’s homes that serve northern Minnesota are at Fergus
Falls and Silver Bay. Meanwhile, Willmar and Montevideo also
seek permission for veteran’s homes in their communities.
Such a facility
will boost economic development through jobs, retraining,
nursing and construction, said Skoe.
“But this is
really about providing services in an underserved area for
vets,” said Skoe, who sits on a Senate veterans panel that will
consider the bill. “When you at the coverage map of Minnesota,
there’s a big blank up here, and we have got a great case to be
made bringing a nursing home into this area to provide services
to the veterans who work and reside in northern Minnesota.”
The project also
has the support of the three area American Indian Reservations —
Leech Lake, Red Lake and White Earth — with veterans color
guards from all three at Friday’s ceremonies.
Leech Lake
Tribal Chairman Archie LaRose, who signed the commitment of
support, said he and tribal leaders from 10 other tribes had
lunch Monday with Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
 |
Sen. Mary Olson, DFL-Bemidji, an Air Force veteran,
signs a commitment of support letter for a Minnesota
veterans home in the region during ceremonies Friday
evening at the Bemidji National Guard Armory. Looking on
and later signing are Beltrami County Commissioner
Quentin Fairbanks and Bemidji Mayor Richard Lehmann. The
letter, with copies posted on a wall for the 300 people
who attended to sign, will be sent to Minnesota’s
congressional delegation. Pioneer Photo/Monte Draper
|
“When it was my
turn to speak, I spoke highly of supporting the Bemidji
community with the veterans home,” LaRose said. “This veteran’s
home is the central location for White Earth, Red Lake and Leech
Lake, and it’s going to be a big benefit for the Bemidji
community and the surrounding communities.”
Vene read the
letter of support, which will be sent to Sen. Amy Klobuchar,
DFL-Minn., either Al Franken or Norm Coleman, and U.S. Reps.
Collin Peterson,DFL-7th District, and Jim Oberstar, DFL-8th
District. He also invited boards of local governments to pass
resolutions of support.
“This is truly a
regional effort,” said Sen. Olson, the first signatory of the
commitment of support. “I have high hopes for this project. We
can certainly make no promises at this stage.”
So many people
have already been involved in bringing the project forward, she
said. “It’s been entirely a volunteer effort up to this point.
That speaks to the spirit of our veterans, the willingness to
give up Saturday mornings to work on this.”
Persell and Rep.
Brita Sailer, DFL-Park Rapids, also spoke and signed the letter,
as well as a number of others, including Bemidji Mayor Richard
Lehmann.
Veterans service
clubs from through out the region were represented. Vene sang
the National Anthem, and the Kingbird Signers of the Red Lake
Nation provided drum group flag and veterans songs.
The task force
meets again at 10 a.m. today in the County Administration
Building.
Task force meets to discuss veterans home in
Beltrami County
Brad Swenson
Bemidji Pioneer - 01/04/2009
Efforts grow to fast-track a
Minnesota Veterans Home in Beltrami County, as a task force
decided Friday to move the proposal in the 2009 legislative
session that begins Tuesday.
“We’re trying to build a framework for a presentation to the
Legislature,” state Sen. Mary Olson, DFL-Bemidji, said Friday
night in an interview.
About 35 people from a wide range of interests met most of
Friday at the County Administration Building to form a task
force, she said. It will meet again at 10 a.m. next Saturday at
the County Administration Building to discuss with Olson and
Rep.-elect John Persell, DFL-Bemidji, an action plan for moving
the proposal forward.
At the urging of Beltrami County Commissioner Joe Vene, the
County Board began discussions last month about locating a
state-run nursing home for veterans in Beltrami County. Olson
said Vene will chair the new task force.
An all-day meeting is planned for next weekend, “with the idea
being that within a month we would have developed some type of
presentation for the Legislature so that we can get our request
in front of them yet this year,” Olson said.
A typical 90-bed veterans home would cost about $23 million, but
if accepted as a project by the U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs, the federal government would fund 65 percent, leaving
$8.5 million as a local match which could come from capital
bonding by the Minnesota Legislature, Everett Wright, senior
program administration manager for the state Department of
Veterans Affairs, told commissioners last month.
Wright urged commissioners to submit an application for the
federal funds by mid-April, the annual deadline such project
applications are taken, in order to get a date stamp. Projects
usually take several years to work up on the priority list, so
dating them early becomes important, he said.
Getting a commitment from the Legislature will help, Olson said,
even though it might be four or five years before a vets home
could be realized.
The 2008 Legislature considered a proposal to locate a veterans
home at Willmar, but instead decided to commission a study to
determine statewide needs for veterans homes and where they
would best be located. That study only recently started and is
to be submitted to lawmakers yet this session.
“If Bemidji gets started in the direction of planning for this
now, we’ll be in a good position to be in making our interest
and information available to the organization that is conducting
that study,” Olson said.
“If you look at the map, Bemidji does seem to be the most
logical place in the state, if you’re going to add another
facility because we’re right in the center of the area least
served today,” she added.
“We really had a very good meeting, for a first meeting,” the
Bemidji Democrat said of Friday’s gathering. “We had a broad
group of people, with several people representing the tribes.”
Included were the veterans service officer from the Red Lake
Band of Chippewa and Dr. Kathleen Annette, director of the
Bemidji Area Indian Health Service regional office.
Representatives of local veterans service clubs also attended,
as well as about a dozen veterans, she said.
Olson said Vene was joined by Commissioner Jack Frost and
Commissioner-elect Jim Lucachick, who is a self-employed
architect.
Lucachick’s “presence was very valuable, because of his
knowledge of how projects like this work from an architectural
standpoint,” she said. He will before next week’s meeting try to
find a large architectural firm which has worked on local
projects that could on a pro bono basis provide some elementary
schematics of a veterans home that could be used in the local
pitch to the Legislature.
“They could jump-start this project and move it along quickly,”
Olson said. “They could help us with the initial planning.”
It’s important to get a proposal on the federal radar screen,
she said, as projects are given priority ranking that should see
the project move up. “Projects of this type, assuming we are
successful, and we won’t know until we start things moving
forward, but assuming all goes as well as it could, we’re still
looking at a four or five year project.”
But the unknown card is how deep President-elect Barack Obama’s
economic stimulus package may go, she said. Should funding be
included for ready-to-go veterans homes, a potential Bemidji
project could move up significantly.
“If we can get in the queue as quickly as possible, that will
help us,” she said.
Olson said the task force will focus on three areas:
-
Identify a rough proposal for the physical layout of the
facility.
-
Develop a mission statement for a Minnesota Veterans Home in
Beltrami County and its programming. “We’d be looking for
something that would make this facility unique compared to
others,” Olson said Suggestions included having the facility
serve as a pilot project in electronic medical records, with the
home working with MeritCare Clinic Bemidji and North Country
Regional Hospital.
-
Specialized care in post-traumatic stress disorder could also be
a unique feature, Olson said.
-
Focusing on families. Residents with mental health issues to
those who are amputees, because the war in Iraq and Afghanistan,
tend to be younger today, Olson said. “It’s important to have
something available that focuses on family members as well.”
A cultural component should also be included for the American
Indian population, she said, as the home would be located
central to three American Indian reservations.
The task force will also seek potential sites for a veterans
home, mostly likely on public land near as possible to medical
facilities at the west edge of Bemidji.
“We’re pushing this only because the opportunity, but we’re
going to do everything possible that we get plenty of
opportunity for public input,” Olson said, adding that the task
force meetings are open to the public.
“We’ll get the ball going and see what happens,” Olson said.
Beltrami County commissioners hear about
process to get a veterans home
Brad Swenson Bemidji Pioneer
Published Thursday,
December 04, 2008
A large cluster of veterans in
north-central Minnesota makes
Beltrami County a prime location
for a Minnesota veterans home, a
state official says.
Beltrami County commissioners
think so, too, and took the
first steps Tuesday by making
funding for a veterans home in
Beltrami County a legislative
lobbying priority.
“You would be identified as a
priority location,” Everett
Wright, senior program
administration manager for the
Minnesota Department of Veterans
Affairs Health Care Division
told commissioners. “There’s no
doubt in my mind.”
Wright came to Bemidji at the
invite of Commissioner Joe Vene
and County Veterans Service
Officer Julie Harris to discuss
the process to establish a
veterans nursing facility
locally.
There are more than 3,700
veterans in Beltrami County,
Harris said, a number that grows
with service in Iraq and
Afghanistan.
“This would be no small
undertaking and would be a huge
commitment to enter into the
process,” Vene said. “This is
daunting. … This board has been
very supportive of veterans and
their needs, such as in getting
a VA clinic here.”
As an example of what the
community can expect, Wright
said a 90-bed veterans home
would cost about $23 million,
but if accepted as a project by
the U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs, the federal government
would fund 65 percent, leaving
$8.5 million as a local match.
“That can come from state
bonding, a county referendum or
from local contributions,”
Wright said.
Two Minnesota communities are
currently competing for a
veterans home, with Willmar
seeking state bonding and
Montevideo going with
contributions and grants.
While only one city between
Willmar and Montevideo may win
federal approval for a veterans
home, Wright thought Beltrami
County would be approved in
northern Minnesota as it meets a
federal requirement of being
more than two hours’ drive or
110 miles away from another
veterans home.
The only other homes north of
the Twin Cities are in Fergus
Falls and Silver Bay.
Wright urged commissioners to
form a task force of veterans
groups and others to begin
spearheading efforts for a
veterans home, and to get local
lawmakers on board. It’s also
the same advice he gives any
community interested in building
a veterans home, he added.
“The state involvement most
likely will be in a bonding
year,” he said, which will be in
2010. “Start pushing your
legislators to get a veterans
home in this area.”
The first step is getting
federal approval for a veterans
home in Beltrami County, and
that could take years, Wright
said. As a result, he urged
commissioners to meet an April
15 deadline for submitting an
application to be rated which
includes a pre-design plan.
That may be the first chore
for legislators, he said of
finding the funding for the
pre-design study, which could
cost $70,000 to $100,000. The
initial plan need not be too
complicated, and can be replaced
with a fuller one later, Wright
said.
“The pre-design is the
backbone of the grant
application,” he said. “You need
to get a date stamp on an
application.”
 |
Everett Wright,
state program
administration manager
for the Minnesota
Department of Veterans
Affairs Health Care
Division, explains to
Beltrami County
commissioners Tuesday
the lengthy process to
construct a veterans
nursing home. The County
Board took the first
steps to do so, which
may take several years.
Pioneer Photo/Brad
Swenson |
Fergus Falls Veterans Home is
asking for an upgrade of 21
beds, he said, and submitted an
application two years ago. This
year, it is ranked 61st of 170
projects, and usually the top 30
are funded each year.
The pre-design study, usually
done by architects, will also
include a needs assessment,
Wright said. Fergus Fall’s
pre-design was for a 90-bed home
and it estimated the home would
create 120 full-time jobs,
providing income to 155
households.
“The vets clinic here is a
plus,” he said of Bemidji,
referring to the VA
Community-Based Outpatient
Clinic in Bemidji. “The
pre-design will also list
support services, such as the
number of doctors and nurses,
and hospital facilities.”
With Bemidji at the center of
three American Indian
reservations, that’s also in
favor of a Beltrami County
location.
“With 3,700 veterans in
Beltrami County, that’s a large
cluster of veterans in this
area,” Wright said. “This area
would look good in a federal
review.”
The county may be able to use
part of a study which will start
soon on a needs assessment for
veterans home services in rural
Minnesota and in the metro area,
mandated by the Legislature
after severe deficiencies at the
Minneapolis Veterans Home caused
the state to take over
management of the home.
But that report isn’t due
until late February, and Wright
urged commissioners to meet the
April 15 federal grant deadline,
or else they’ll put the proposal
back a year.
Once built, state language
would be needed to turn the
facility over to the state,
which would operate and maintain
the veterans home, he said.
Fifty percent of the veterans
home budget comes from
legislative appropriation from
the state general fund and 50
percent through per diem
payments from the federal
government, he said.
Veterans who qualify for the
home “would be charged based on
their ability to pay,” Wright
said, and non-military spouses
would be able to join the
veteran in the home. “Eighteen
percent of our residents pay the
full cost because they want to
be there. Others pay zero.”
Also needed is a waiver of a
federal VA rule that limits
Minnesota to 800 veterans beds,
he said. That soon will be
lifted to 900, as the
Minneapolis Veterans Home adds
100 beds, but he said Beltrami
County’s proposal would another
waiver.
“This is a huge challenge
that I hope can be met,” Vene
said of the project.
County Board Chairman Quentin
Fairbanks, at the board’s
regular meeting, directed County
Administrator Tony Murphy to
make the veterans home a
priority lobbying issue with
legislators.
“We really need to talk to
them about pre-design funds,”
Murphy said. “We also need to
create a community task force to
broaden our base.”
bswenson@bemidjipioneer.com
|
|