FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 12, 2007
Dedication set for Ussery-Roan Texas
State Veterans Home in Amarillo
AUSTIN — Jerry Patterson, Commissioner of the Texas General Land Office and Chairman of the Texas Veterans Land Board, today invited all Texans to the dedication ceremony for the Ussery-Roan Texas State Veterans Home in Amarillo.
The ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 24 at the home, located at 1020 Tascosa Road. U.S. Marine Col. Bill Duncan, an Amarillo native and founder of the CIS Church Development Foundation, will serve as the keynote speaker for the event. The public is invited and a reception following the dedication will include guided tours of the new home for Panhandle veterans.
“The support for this home in Amarillo has been astounding,” Patterson said. “The Ussery-Roan Texas State Veterans Home is where honor lives, and we will offer our veterans the best care anywhere. They have certainly earned it.”
The Ussery-Roan Texas State Veterans Home is set to begin taking residents May 1, 2007. It has 120 beds, 30 of which will be certified for Alzheimer’s care in a separate, secured unit. The home will employ about 100 full-time employees, including registered nurses, licensed vocational nurses, therapists, nurses’ aides, laundry and housekeeping staffs, activities aides, cooks and a dietary staff.
The Ussery-Roan Texas State Veterans Home is owned by the Texas Veterans Land Board, which has chosen Touchstone Communities to run day-to-day operations.
As a state senator, Patterson authored the legislation that created the Texas State Veterans Home program. Upon taking office as Commissioner of the Texas General Land Office in 2003, Patterson’s first act was to call upon the Veterans Land Board to approve locations for new Texas State Veterans Homes. The Board selected Amarillo, El Paso and McAllen to be the next host communities.
Under Patterson’s law, the Federal Department of Veterans Affairs and Texas Veterans Land Board share the costs of constructing Texas State Veterans Homes. Because the Department of Veterans Affairs subsidizes a significant portion of a veteran’s cost to stay in a Texas State Veterans Home, the daily out-of-pocket rates are well below market average and include the cost of medications. A veteran currently pays $55-$65 a day for a semi-private room in a Texas State Veterans Home. The average cost for a semi-private room in a private Texas nursing home is about $123 a day, which often doesn’t include the cost of medications.
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The Texas State Veterans Home in Amarillo joins existing homes in Big Spring, Bonham, El Paso, Floresville, McAllen and Temple. Each home provides skilled long-term nursing care, comprehensive rehabilitation programs, special diets, recreational activities, social services, a library, and a certified, secured Alzheimer’s unit with its own secured outdoor courtyard.
For additional information on Texas State Veterans Homes and special home, land and home improvement loans for Texas veterans, call 800-252-VETS (800-252-8387) or visit our Web site at www.texasveterans.com.
WHERE: 1020 Tascosa Road
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http://www.texasveterans.com/amarillo