New veterans home to be more than place for old soldiers to die

The first shovel of earth will be turned for the Nevada Veterans State Nursing Home in Boulder City on Saturday, but the facility's director already has a definite vision for its future.

Jon Sias, who was given the top administrative post in late May, says the $19.3-million, 180-bed skilled nursing facility is not going to be the stereotypical hospital where old soldiers go to die.

"Every person who moves into the home will do so with a discharge plan written up," said Sias, a Carson City resident who will move to Boulder City to run the operation. "Our attitude will be that this is not the last stop on life's bus line.

"Our staff will do all it can to help these people regain their health so they can return to a less restrictive and even more home-like atmosphere."

Sias also said he will run the home like "a community within a community," with every corridor having a street name. He said there will be a town square, a town hall, a dentist's office, a barber shop/beauty salon and a chapel.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the facility will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at the site just east of U.S. near Industrial Road.

"This home is long overdue," said Sias, a disabled veteran with a master's degree in public administration from the University of Maine. "Nevada is one of just four states without a state veterans home. I hope to welcome our first residents by July 1, 2000."

Residency in the home will be open to all honorably discharged military veterans who have lived in Nevada at least one year and have acquired notes from their doctors stating they need skilled nursing care -- regardless of age or financial means.

Sias expects that the facility will reach its capacity between six and nine months after it opens. But with what he calls "a revolving door policy," Sias intends for many of the residents to eventually get well enough to leave the facility and enjoy more independent lives.

That in turn will open spots for veterans on the waiting list. So will a significant number of deaths of aging veterans in the home. Sias, a 49-year-old Vietnam War-era Navy veteran, says he won't let that happen without a good fight.

"This home will provide the best state-of-the-art care in a relaxed home environment," Sias said. "I feel I owe that to my fellow veterans. If you are just looking for a place to die, don't come here."

A 24-bed section of the facility will be set aside for patients with Alzheimer's disease and other dementia-related ailments. It will be a secured area. The rest of the beds -- two to a room -- will be for all other residents in the coed facility, Sias said.

However, the home cannot meet the needs of all ailing veterans. Sias said certain nonambulatory people, such as those requiring tube feeding and some quadriplegics, will not be eligible because they will require far more care than the facility will be designed to provide.

However, he said, many wheelchair-bound veterans will qualify to live in the home. He said the facility will have two vans with wheelchair lifts so those who are able can leave the home for short supervised trips.

Last December the dream of a veterans home took a huge step toward becoming a reality when the Boulder City Council unanimously approved a land swap.

The city received 12 1/2 developed state-owned acres at the southeast corner of Adams Boulevard at Georgia Avenue in exchange for 50 acres of undeveloped city property near the MGM Grand's proposed golf courses.

The state also agreed to extend Industrial Road from U.S. 93 to the north boundary of the proposed Veterans Drive.

Boulder City initially attempted to get the veterans home two years ago but lost out to North Las Vegas, which received land at Fifth Street and Craig Road as a gift from the Air Force.

The state approved that site as the location for the home, but in May 1998 the Legislative Interim Finance Committee abandoned the site after it received estimates that it would cost about $2 million to clean up its contaminated soil.

Boulder City again was in the running and came up with the land swap plan that was approved by the state Board of Examiners last August, followed by the Legislative Interim Finance Committee's approval in September.

The Legislature in 1997 earmarked $6.8 million for the project, and Nevada received $12.6 million in federal matching funds for the home.

Saturday's event, under a tent to be provided by the National Guard, is open to the public.

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