VIRGINIA BEACH VETERANS CENTER DELAYED
VA: Extra funds will improve regional facility
VIRGINIA BEACH — The upcoming Veterans Care Center in Virginia Beach — a first-of-its-kind facility for the region — is two years behind schedule.
After the ceremonial groundbreaking in 2017, two unexpected changes at the federal level threw a wrench into the state’s plan, said Steven Combs, the deputy commissioner of Virginia’s Department of Veterans Services.
The biggest wrinkle was that the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs relaxed its design standards, which allowed for a better facility that will serve more veterans, he said. And then, instead of Virginia funding the entire project, the federal government said it would pony up about $33 million, or a bit more than half.
The changes, he said, were a shock.
“It was like, ‘Wow,’ ” Combs said. “The president’s budget put this one time, big shot in the arm of funding for the states for these projects. Rather than waiting for 10 years, all of a
sudden it looked a lot more real.”
So, they largely went back to the drawing board for the Jones & Cabacoy Veterans Care Center, named after two local veterans.
“This has meant a delay in the start date, but this is offset by being able to construct a larger facility with more amenities for the residents,” said Jeb Hockman, spokesman for Virginia Department of Veterans Affairs, in an email. “Bottom line, the Jones & Cabacoy Veterans Care Center will have more beds, expanded program space, and more amenities than in the original plans.”
The changes to the planned facility are only about the interiors, Combs said.
Before the redesign, the facility was going to have 12 10-bed households, for a total of 120 rooms. It was an awkward ratio — they like to have one medical staff member per eight patients, he said — but the design standards set limits on how many rooms there could be in each household.
With those restrictions now loosened, the new plan calls for eight 16-bed households, allowing for more total rooms and better care, Combs said.
“Of course, it’s eight more vets that we can serve,” he said.
The center will help veterans with Alzheimer’s disease and memory issues, those who need skilled nursing and some on shortterm rehabilitation.
The private beds are huddled around communal living and dining rooms. And along the central spine of the facility, what Combs calls Main Street, they added more rooms for programming, which he thinks will improve the residents’ quality of life.
Now, there will be a space for religious services and a spot for game and movie nights, too. The facility won’t really look like a hospital, he said, explaining that he wanted each household to feel very much like a home.
“The goal is to be as home-like an environment as possible in an institutional setting. Everything is designed around the residents, and to be on a scale that’s very friendly and accommodating,” he said. “Some of them, this might be the rest-of-their-lives’ homes. And we want it to be home.”
With the preliminary redesign finished — it’s been approved by the VA and state — Combs said they are now creating working drawings and waiting for approval for the facility’s stormwater management plans, Combs said.
The drawback to all of this, Combs said, is that the facility will come to the region later than originally pitched. Construction for the $60 million project should start in July and take about two years, Combs said. To start building, the agency is planning to bring in loads of fill dirt to raise the site, hopefully protecting it from flooding and major weather events.
They expect a soft opening in August 2021 and a grand opening around Veterans Day the same year. Combs hopes the singlestory center will be at full residency 18 months after the grand opening.
A lot of the project is staying the same, too. It’s the same size on the exterior and will be built on the same roughly 25-acre plot of land that Virginia Beach donated to the state a few years ago. And the city’s side of construction — connecting Nimmo Parkway to the facility — will still continue as planned, officials said.
When the new building finally opens and veterans enter, Combs said he wants it to have a “wow” factor. It’ll take roughly 200 fulltime employees to fully staff the center.
And when finished, what will the Veterans Care Center show to the region?
“Commitment is one word,” he said. “I think it shows the commitment from the state, and now from the VA, toward providing a longterm care option for the veterans of Hampton Roads.”
“Some of them, this might be the rest-oftheir-lives’ homes. And we want it to be home.”
Steven Combs