Cape veterans home will see some renovations

On Friday, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon signed into law three bills to help fund $33 million in capital improvements for the state's seven veterans homes, including the one in Cape Girardeau.

Locally, the money is going to renovating nurses' stations, the kitchenette and restrooms, replacing the nurse call and fire alarm systems, boilers, water heaters, sump pump, hot water circulating pumps and the exterior doors.

"We need to ensure our veterans receive the best care we can provide, and today I am here to deliver on our promise to them," Nixon said in a news release. "This past January, I called on legislators to finish the job they started last year when they authorized additional bonding capacity by passing the necessary bills to get these projects underway, and I appreciate the bipartisan fashion in which they accomplished this. And because of the strong AAA credit rating that reflects our strong record of fiscal responsibility, Missouri taxpayers are going to save up to $30 million over the life of those bonds."

More than 494,000 military veterans live in Missouri, according to the release, and Nixon said he wants to make sure the state is able to take care of them.

Nixon was scheduled to appear at the Cape Girardeau facility Friday to sign the bills, but canceled the trip because of inclement weather.

In the next decade, Vietnam veterans, most of whom now are in their late 60s or early 70s, will begin living in veterans homes, something the Missouri Veterans Commission began planning for in 2014.

Last year the Southeast Missourian reported that about 18 percent of veterans in the state's veterans homes are Vietnam veterans, and of the 150 people the Cape Girardeau home houses, 16 of them are veterans of the Vietnam War.

Viviane Rains, administrator for the Cape Girardeau facility, said Friday she is not aware of plans to accommodate an influx of Vietnam vets by expanding the facility or increasing its number of beds.

Calls were not returned Friday from the state veterans commission.

smaue@semissourian.com

388-3644

pertinent address:

2400 Veterans Memorial Drive, Cape Girardeau, Mo.