The newly opened Arkansas State Veterans Home at North Little Rock can now accept residents on Medicare and Medicaid.
The certification came after the state Office of Long Term Care found "no deficiencies" during a survey and is the Arkansas Department of Veteran Affairs' next step toward filling the 96-bed facility that opened at the end of January.
Only veterans who could afford to pay for care out of their own pockets were admitted before the certification, which allows the agency to bill Medicare and Medicaid for care dating to April 27.
State VA Director Nate Todd, whom Gov. Asa Hutchinson tapped to lead the agency in March, said the certification validated the work of the home's "highly professional" staff. The Office of Long Term Care, which conducted the survey, is part of the Arkansas Department of Human Services.
"It certifies the quality and level of care from an external entity," Todd said in a phone interview Monday.
The $24 million home, located at 2401 John Ashley Drive in North Little Rock, was constructed to fill a need created by the quickly aging population of about 250,000 veterans in Arkansas. That need only grew worse in 2012 when the Little Rock Veterans Home on Charles Bussey Avenue closed because of mismanagement, deplorable living conditions and a lack of funding.
The agency also runs a veterans nursing home in Fayetteville.
The North Little Rock facility is special, according to the 10 residents living there. It was built around a "small-home" concept that emphasizes a homelike environment. Instead of one large building, the facility consists of eight cottages scattered across a hilly 31 acres that used to comprise Emerald Park Golf Course.
This week, the first cottage will reach capacity, bringing the facility's census to 12, said Sarah Jones, the agency's public affairs director.
Jones added that staff members at the second cottage are training this week in anticipation of admitting the first resident next week.
Staffing at the North Little Rock home works differently from traditional nursing homes. Certified nursing assistants are assigned to individual cottages where they serve as universal workers -- cleaning, cooking and administering direct care. They are encouraged to develop relationships with the veterans. Nurses are also assigned to the homes.
Robert Fureigh of North Little Rock said the staffing level is one of the many characteristics that attracted him to the home, where he hopes to soon place his brother. Fureigh's brother has "severe Parkinson's disease" and lives in a traditional long-term care facility.
"The setting, No. 1, is so nice," Fureigh said. "It's open, warm and friendly, and it's going to be so much better staffed than where he is now."
Fureigh's brother pays for care privately, but he expects to soon receive a 100 percent disability classification from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which will then pay for all of his care.
While the North Little Rock home isn't yet certified by the federal VA to receive residents on veterans' benefits, the agency will apply for that certification after filling up the second cottage, which Todd hopes to do in 90 days.
Metro on 05/09/2017