St. Lucie veterans’ nursing home on VA priority list for $38 million grant

January 30, 2017

WASHINGTON, D.C. – (RealEstateRama) — The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced today that the state of Florida is in line to receive a $38 million federal grant to build a new VA nursing home in St. Lucie County.

The move comes after U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, wrote last May to then-Secretary of Veteran Affairs, Robert McDonald, urging him to fund construction of the new St. Lucie facility as soon as possible.

“We have a duty to care for our veterans,” Nelson said. “Getting the funding needed to build this new facility here in St. Lucie County has been one of our top priorities.”

The Ardie R. Copas State Veterans Nursing Home is ranked eighth on the VA’s priority list of construction projects for the upcoming year. The VA says it plans to fund the top eleven projects on this year’s list.

The $60 million project will be funded by both the state and the federal government. The federal share of the project totals $37,990,524.

Here’s a copy of Nelson’s letter to McDonald:https://www.billnelson.senate.gov/sites/default/files/20160525_Letter_to_VA%20Secretary_on_St._Lucie_Nursing_Home.pdf

Here’s a copy of the VA’s priority list, released today:https://www.billnelson.senate.gov/sites/default/files/20170126_VA_Construction_Grants_Priority_List_FY17.pdf