Brown Announces New Federal Resources to Renovate Ohio Veterans Home in Brown County
Georgetown Home Will Receive More Than $380,000 from the Department of Veterans Affairs
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), a senior member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, announced new federal resources for improvements to the Ohio Veterans Home in Georgetown’s nurse call system, electrical system, doors, and floors. Constructed in 2003, the Georgetown Home offers nursing and hospice care for veterans. The Home also specializes in providing care to veterans with Alzheimer’s disease.
“Our veterans deserve first-class facilities that match the first-class service they have provided to our country," said Brown. “These new federal resources will help improve the care and living accommodations for veterans at the Georgetown Home, while working to fulfill the promise made by our country to take care of those who have served us.”
The Georgetown Home will receive $386,777.62 from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Currently, the Home has 168 beds, including 21 for hospice care, to meet the nursing and skilled nursing needs of Ohio’s senior and disabled veterans.
As the only Ohio Senator to serve a full term on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, Brown is an advocate for Ohio’s veterans. Over the past week, Brown toured the state to build support for his Significant Event Tracker (SET) Act, legislation that would ensure that unit commanders document events that individual service members are exposed to which might later be connected to PTS, mTBI, or other injuries.
In response to the disability claims backlog, Brown has helped secure record funds and staffing for the VA to combat the backlog. In November 2013, Brown announced that key provisions of his Veterans Services Outreach (VSO) Act passed the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs. The Act would require the VA to notify veterans filing claims electronically that they can receive help and important time-saving information that could significantly reduce their wait time. In August, Brown announced that he would also work to pass the Claims Processing Improvement Act of 2013, legislation that would hold the VA accountable by requiring it to publically report information on both its projected monthly goals and actual production so that Congress and the public knows if the VA is working toward eliminating its backlog. The bill would also establish a task force to hire and train claims processors, and develop tactics to attack and eliminate the backlog.
In December 2013, Brown announced his support for the Homeless Veterans Prevention Act, legislation that would improve homelessness prevention programs and increase the availability of transitional housing for veterans.
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