The state Veterans' Home sits on a sprawling campus in Rocky Hill but most of the buildings were built more than 70 years ago. In August, Governor Dannel Malloy asked for the creation of an advisory group to examine how the property--which offers several types of residential care-- can be transformed to serve more veterans.
The working group met Friday for the first time and toured the 92 acre campus. It includes a domiciliary that has 240-bed capacity for men and women and a new skilled nursing facility for aging veterans with 125 beds. Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman is leading the working group.
She said, "Our population is aging. And we're having a lot of veterans coming home, Now they're not partaking in these buildings yet, except some of the houses, the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. But sooner or later they're going to need help too, so we have to be ready for them."
Wyman said members of the working group will meet again in November. She said an outside consultant will be hired to review the campus. The plan is to report back recommendations to the Governor by January. The Veterans' Home serves many who have been homeless or are at risk of having no where to live. The working group is part of Malloy administration's efforts to eliminate chronic homelessness among state veterans by 2015.
