Associated Press Published

State Needs $25 Million to Build New Veterans Nursing Home

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The secretary of the West Virginia Department of Veterans Assistance says the state needs to chip in about $25 million to build a 120-bed veterans nursing home in Raleigh County.
 
     A law passed last legislative session authorized the new facility in Beckley. Secretary Rick Thompson told a state legislative panel this week the law didn’t provide the money to build it.
 
     Thompson said if the state covers 35 percent of construction costs, the federal government will cover the rest. He said he doesn’t think all the money needs to be available upfront in order to get on a federal waiting list.
 
     The law allows the agriculture commissioner to transfer 17 acres next to the Jackie Withrow Hospital to Veterans Assistance for the new facility.
 
     The only existing state-run veterans nursing home is in Clarksburg and its full .