Funding approved to build VA nursing home here

Describing it as unprecedented, Cherokee County Veterans Affairs Officer Todd Humphries got the call Friday afternoon that he thought wouldn't come for at least two more years.

Humphries learned the federal Veterans Affairs budget includes money to build the $40 millionCherokee County veterans nursing home.

"I just got the call five minutes ago," said an excited Humphries. "There is complete funding for all three nursing homes (in South Carolina)."

Humphries said funding for VA nursing homes nearly doubled to $600 million in the new federal VA budget. The local VA officer had estimated it would take five years to receive the funding. It took less than half that.

"We pushed, pushed and pushed. This is unprecedented," Humphries said.

Officials hope to get final approval for the facility's design from the S.C. Department of Mental Health in about a year. Groundbreaking could start in the summer of 2019.

The 108-bed nursing home will be built on a 58- acre parcel along Hampshire Drive. The construction phase of the project could create as many as 200 jobs. Twothirds of the funding will come from the federal government. The state must pony up the other third.

To be eligible for admission, a veteran must have lived in South Carolina for a year, received a general or honorable discharge and need long-term nursing care.