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State budget includes money for vet nursing home in Marion County
Ocala Star-Banner - 3/20/2018
March 19--The newly approved state budget includes $500,000 for initial engineering and design of a veterans nursing home in Marion County.
The Marion application to build a veteran nursing home is still under review by the federal government. Still, local leaders are hailing the state-approved money as an important first step.
"Hard work and dedication does pay off!" County Commission Chairwoman Kathy Bryant wrote on Facebook when announcing the news. Getting the state money was Marion County government's top legislative priority.
Marion has been trying to land a veterans nursing home for years, noting that the local veteran population exceeds 45,000. When accounting for the surrounding area, a Marion home would serve more than 650,000 veterans.
Coincidentally, the Florida Department of Veterans' Affairs is hosting a groundbreaking ceremony for the newest veterans nursing home, in the Port St. Lucie community of Tradition, at 2 p.m. Tuesday.
The new state budget includes $4 million for capital improvement at that home, as well as $7.9 million to begin operations at the Lake Baldwin State Veteran Nursing Home.
Contact Jim Ross at 671-6412 or jim.ross@starbanner.com. Follow him on Twitter @jimrossOSB
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