June 20, 2024

Wyden, Merkley Hoyle Urge VA to Build Roseburg Veterans’ Home

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, alongside U.S. Representative Val Hoyle (OR-04), urge the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to urgently prioritize the application and funding for the Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs (ODVA) Roseburg Veterans’ Home project in Fiscal Year 2025.

Currently, ODVA operates two high-quality, award-winning Oregon Veterans’ Homes: the Oregon Veterans’ Home in The Dalles, a 151-bed skilled nursing facility, and the Edward C. Allworth Veterans’ Home in Lebanon, a 154-bed assisted living facility. These facilities provide skilled and long-term nursing, memory, and rehabilitative care to veterans, their spouses, and Gold Star parents, allowing veterans to live in a culture of community with fellow veterans and those with shared military experiences.

In their letter to VA Secretary Denis McDonough, the lawmakers detailed that these homes in The Dalles and Lebanon—designed to meet the unique needs of aging veterans and disabled veterans, their spouses, and Gold Star parents —are lauded as national models for state-run veterans’ homes. Together, the lawmakers are calling for significant federal support for a third veterans’ home of this kind to be constructed in Roseburg to meet the critical needs of Oregon veterans in rural Douglas County and the surrounding area.

“While Oregon is fortunate to have two state veterans’ homes, the state has been working diligently toward a third veterans’ home – to be constructed in Roseburg, Oregon - for over a decade. This home is needed now more than ever,” wrote the lawmakers.

Roseburg has a sizable veteran population, with current estimates suggesting that Douglas County is home to over 10,000 veterans, many of whom served in the Vietnam War era or earlier. A new facility in the community would provide an affordable, high-quality, long-term care option for the estimated 68,000 veterans across the VA Southern Oregon Healthcare System service area which includes Jackson, Josephine, Klamath, and Lake counties in Oregon as well as Siskiyou and Del Norte counties in California.

Earlier this year, the project secured $35 million from the Oregon State Legislature and awaits the remaining $65 million needed from the VA.

“We urge you to move quickly and raise the status of the Roseburg Veterans’ Home…so that it will be competitive for funding in Fiscal Year 2025. This would enable our state to fulfill its promise to meet the needs of veterans in Southern Oregon and honor their service to our nation,” the lawmakers concluded.

Full text of the letter can be found here.

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