Today Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush applauded the Houston City Council's adoption of an ordinance enabling the city’s purchase of land for a new Texas State Veterans Home to be built in the Houston area. This will be the ninth home to be constructed by the Texas Veterans Land Board (VLB).
“One of the great privileges of serving as Texas Land Commissioner is fulfilling my Constitutional duty as the Chairman of the Veterans Land Board and overseeing this area of our state’s veterans programs, including management of eight VLB Texas State Veterans Homes statewide,” Commissioner Bush said. “As a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, I take this responsibility very seriously, which is why this year we’ve taken steps at the Veterans Land Board to do more for those who have done so much for us. Honoring our veterans requires a commitment from all levels of government. I am proud of the partnership the VLB and City of Houston are forming in order to build a new Texas State Veterans Home in Harris County and demonstrate to our veterans and their families that we appreciate the sacrifices they made to protect our freedoms.”
Texas is home to nearly 1.7 million veterans. Harris County has the largest veteran population in the state with approximately 180,000 veterans and, of that veteran population, approximately 67,800 veterans are over the age of 65. Research shows that, on average, persons over the age of 65 will require an average of three years of long-term care. Twenty-percent of the over 65 population will require five years or more of long-term care.
As conceptualized, the 136,000 square-foot single-story community living center will provide 120 skilled nursing beds, including a 30-bed memory support unit. The design is based on a “smallhouse” concept with three small-houses combined in a single “neighborhood” building. Each 10-resident small-house comes with a dedicated kitchen, dining room, and living room spaces to preserve a home-like atmosphere and to provide resident-centered care. Administrative and care staff units will be centrally located within each neighborhood building.
Once completed, the new Texas State Veterans Home will employ between 140 and 160 permanent full-time employees with occupations including skilled-nursing, administration, food services, and maintenance.
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