The oldest of Washington’s three state veterans homes was built 120 years ago in the Puyallup Valley to serve former Union soldiers.
Today, many occupants of the Washington Soldiers Home and Colony near Orting are in their mid-70s or older, veterans of Korea and World War II.
As thousands of service members return from Iraq and Afghanistan, the state is making plans to expand the home to better meet their needs. No veterans of those two wars live there now.
State leaders envision new programs at the sprawling 181-acre campus, including therapy and housing for younger veterans dealing with traumatic brain injury, known as TBI.
The changes have some residents of the East Pierce County home concerned about what will happen to them.
“Right now, everything is up in the air,” said Gary Smith, 55, an Army veteran and president of the resident council. “They’ve got a lot of guys worried.”
State officials say they don’t need to be.
Two programs at the home will be phased out, but participants either will move into a remaining program or be placed elsewhere, they said.
“We are compelled because of the war, which is now 10 years old, to make sure we position ourselves to take care of veterans now and into the future,” said John Lee, director of the state Department of Veterans Affairs. “The Soldiers Home campus is going to play a significant role in the state’s response to what happens when the war is over.”
One potential change is the renovation of the Roosevelt Barracks, which today holds veterans in the home’s light-nursing and long-term housing programs. It was built in two phases starting in 1935.
The idea is to use the first floor for short-term residential therapy and respite care for veterans with TBI. The condition is often described as the signature wound of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, where roadside bombings are common.
Canine and equine therapy could become part of the program, along with a therapeutic garden, greenhouses and orchard.
The barracks’ second floor would hold transitional housing for veterans with TBI, post-traumatic stress or other challenges.
It would be modeled on a transitional housing program that operates at the state veterans home at Retsil, in Kitsap County.
The renovation, plus some work on two other campus buildings and the grounds, is expected to cost $6 million, said Heidi Audette, veterans department spokeswoman.
Lee said his department would raise the money to cover it.
It’s not the only change under discussion. The department is exploring working with nonprofit groups to add buildings, including affordable housing and a behavioral health center, as well as rehabilitating another aging barracks, officials said.
No expansion plans are final, and there’s no firm timeline. However, Lee said he expects changes at the Orting campus to begin unfolding over the next decade.
Some current residents are concerned how they’ll be affected as two programs are phased out over the next several years.
“Some people have been here for years and figure they’re losing their homes,” said longtime resident Alan Hommel. “It’s quite upsetting to a lot people.”
“People are really worried about their futures,” Smith said.
Residents don’t have enough specific information about the changes, he said. One of his personal worries is how it will work to take his dog to wherever he goes next, he said.
Lee said he’s planning a meeting with residents next month to provide more information and discuss their concerns.
The two programs that will go away are known as “light nursing” and “domiciliary.” They have roughly 70 people between them; there’s no set timeline for their departure.
Those in light nursing often receive help with medication but don’t need the more intensive care provided at the skilled nursing home on-site.
Washington is the only state that provides light nursing at its veterans homes, and officials said that it appears the federal money that pays for it will go away.
Domiciliary residents are even more independent; they get some extra support in their day-to-day lives, such as with meals, but don’t require medical care.
Nationwide, veterans care is moving away from this long-term housing model toward ones that put veterans back with their families or in community settings, officials said. The Orting home is the only one of Washington’s three state veterans home with a domiciliary program.
The equivalent program at the Retsil home was phased out about seven years ago; the home in Spokane never had one.
Over the next several years, veterans in the light-nursing and domiciliary programs either will move to the higher level of care at the Orting home or will move elsewhere, such as a group home, officials said.
Audette said case managers will work with each individual to find the right placement.
The skilled-nursing program will remain.
Smith said the state is required by law to provide domiciliary and nursing care. He plans to bring that up when Lee meets with residents next month.
He said he doesn’t want to see older veterans pushed aside to make room for new ones.
Lee said that’s not happening. The home will take care of residents as the campus changes its mission, he said, and no one will be kicked out.
But planning for the future must happen now, he said.
“The war is going to be over,” Lee said. “We don’t want to wake up in two to five years and say, ‘Let’s start getting ready.’ ”
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