A new $54 million veterans home will bring 200 jobs to the Coast, governor says
Rain pushed the groundbreaking inside Tuesday for a $54 million state veterans nursing home at Tradition in Harrison County that will provide 100 private beds for active duty, veterans and reservists.
The state has 189,000 veterans and 26% of them live in the three Coast counties, said Stacey Pickering, executive director of the Mississippi Veteran’s Affairs Board. That’s one of the largest concentrations of veterans in the Gulf South, he said.
The closest state VA home is nearly 2 hours away in Collins, and he said it took a series of big events to get one built on the Coast. They included:
▪ The federal Veterans Administration had authorized 480 beds Mississippi. “We were already at 600,” Pickering said, but the VA provided a waiver for 100 more.
▪ The state Legislature agreed to provide $16 million — “year 1, ask 1,” Pickering said — for a state match to a federal grant of $29.3 million to build the center.
▪ Joe Canizaro agreed to donate 25 acres of land at his Tradition Development, where the nursing home will be built off Tradition Parkway.
▪ Mississippi Development Authority agreed to kick in $9.4 million for roads and utilities. A new Veterans Boulevard will be built to the site, which is east of William Carey University and the nursing school at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.
Construction will begin later in 2020, Pickering said, and it will take 18-24 months to build the center that will provide 200 jobs and a $5 million payroll.
. The nursing home will have medical staff, pharmacy services and full imaging, he said. The cost will be $50 a day for any military member. The VA picks up the total cost if the resident is 70% or more disabled.
Preference will be given to those military members living in other state facilities who are residents of the Coast counties, he said, so they can come home and be closer to their families.
The federal VA maintains a retirement home on the beach in Gulfport and a VA hospital in Biloxi. Pickering said the federal and state VA have different roles and missions. The two government entities will partner, he said, with much of the care for residents of the nursing home at Tradition provided at the VA center in Biloxi.
Ryan Lopiccolo is grandson of Canizaro and works with him in the development of Tradition and other properties.
Gov. Phil Bryant and his grandfather have a vision of growing a medical city at Tradition, the governor said. Already at facilities at Tradition, students are training to be medical professionals and research is being conducted on diabetes and obesity.
With a new medical facility there to serve veterans, “This is a perfect fit,” he said.
Bryant wore a Seabees pin to honor his father, who served as a Seabee during World War II.
When presented with the first ceremonial hard hat, Bryant said he’s worn quite a few hats and been to lots of ribbon cuttings and ground breaking ceremonies in his eight years as governor, “None more important than this one.”
The cost to Mississippi is more than justified, he said. “What is $16 million dollars with what we’ve received from these veterans?” he asked.
By the numbers
▪ $54 million total project cost
▪ 100 bed facility with all private rooms
▪ 155 new jobs, mostly skilled nursing and support staff
▪ $5.3 million in annual salaries
