FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 26, 2006

LARSON ANNOUNCES $21.9 MILLION GRANT FOR ROCKY HILL VETERANS� HOME

HARTFORD � U.S. Representative John B. Larson (CT-1) today announced a grant for $21.9 million for construction of a new Veterans� Home building. These resources would procure a new, state-of-the-art, 125 bed, long-term adult care facility.

�Our veterans have given so much to our nation and it is time for us to give back to them,� said Larson. �They deserve the most up-to-date facilities and the highest quality of care. I�m pleased to announce this grant which will provide Connecticut�s veterans with a facility worthy of their sacrifices. This new facility is especially important with more soldiers in need of treatment returning home each day from operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.�

The grant was awarded as part of the State Home Program, a partnership between the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the states to construct, acquire, or renovate nursing home, domiciliary, and/or adult day health facilities. States homes, like the one in Rocky Hill, are owned and operated by the state. This grant will provide 65% of the estimated cost of the project.

Congressman Larson has continually voiced to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs his support for the facility and worked to ensure it was a top priority for the VA. This project is part of an aggressive capital improvement plan which included a $2,990,000 federal grant announced earlier this month to replace the facility�s water system, which was constructed in the 1930s and caused a major water main break in 2003.

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