State to start building 2 new veteran homes

Construction on new 80-bed state-operated facilities to house elderly veterans in northern and southeastern Arizona will begin soon in Flagstaff and Yuma.

The Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services says it will break ground on a 10-acre site in Flagstaff on Saturday and hold a similar groundbreaking in Yuma on June 22.

The Legislature approved $27 million for the new Yuma and Flagstaff facilities in recent years and the federal government is funding the majority of the construction costs. Both facilities will have three 20-bed skilled nursing units and a 20-bed memory care units.

They are expected to be completed in mid-2021.

The department currently runs two veterans homes, a 200-bed skilled nursing facility in central Phoenix and a 120-bed facility in Tucson.