Caring for veterans

Last spring, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs designated a grant for more than $4.2 million to pay for improvements to the 150-bed Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau. The overall $6 million renovation is a year from completion, but residents already are seeing many changes in the place they call home.

A new heating ventilation system and air-conditioning system and a new dining activity room are in the works. While the home's small kitchen is being expanded, cooks are working in a trailer and meals are being served in the resident wings.

That's a lot of upheaval for anyone, especially elderly people, but we trust the payoff will be worth the trouble to the residents.

The seven Missouri Veterans Home rated higher than private nursing homes in the state in the latest survey of the quality of care in the state's nursing facilities. Among long-term care facilities, the state and national average for bed sores, considered an important indicator of care, is 17 percent. In the Cape Girardeau home the incidence is 1 percent. Turnover of nursing assistants in the Cape Girardeau home is only 3 percent.

The renovation reflects the home's intent to keep improving treatment of our veterans in return for their service to their country.