STATE VETERANS HOME

To serve the number of Veterans in Southwest Florida, Collier County is seeking to develop a 120-bed State Veterans’ Nursing Home to house veterans in need of care. This would serve the Southwest Florida area where the closest VA Nursing Home is in Charlotte County.

PROJECT GOALS:  

• Construction of a State Veterans' Nursing Home in Collier County would accommodate our growing population of veterans 
• Collier County has 21,801 veterans over the age of 65 and was ranked #1 in a needs-based study in 2014

PROJECT FACTS:

• Florida is near the top of the list of states with a “Great Need” for veterans’ nursing home beds as determined by the U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA)  
• By its own analysis, the VA calculates that Florida only has 20 percent of the VA-sponsored nursing home beds it needs to serve aging veterans.  Florida should have 4,909 beds available for the State’s veterans – currently there are 810  
• The six current nursing facilities – in different locations throughout the state – operate at 99% capacity  
• Two more facilities are under construction, but there are none south of Port Charlotte on the Gulf Coast

PROJECT FEATURES:  

• 120-bed nursing home situated on a minimum 20 acres of land  
• Sites are currently being evaluated for feasibility of location  
• Location in Collier County would capture 8 other counties in a 75-mile radius, with a veteran population exceeding 200,000

COSTS AND FUNDING:  

• A portion of the revenues generated from the proposed one-cent local discretionary sales tax will be used to provide the 35% local match necessary to draw down 65% federal matching funds from the VA

SCHEDULE:  

• Schedule for facility opening is contingent upon completion of land acquisition or identification, Florida Department of Veterans Affairs site approval, facility design and construction plans, Governor’s approval, VA approval/federal match allocation