50 YEARS AGO

Vets move to community care

The Community Care Program at the Stratton V.A. Medical Center in Albany several years ago transferred certain patients from the facility to foster homes. “The hospital is for hospital care but it is not a natural setting for those who need to try to return to the community,” said Raymond J. Doran, chief of social service at the hospital. William Creighton was a beneficiary of the program. “The silvertone tenor from Brooklyn” had performed with actor and musician Jimmy Durante, fought in World War I and for the past 12 years, lived in a foster home in Nassau. He was one of 93 former VA patients who found living more enjoyable since moving into a real home. The community care program proven so successful that the waiting list of patients wanting foster homes was larger than the number of homes available.