On this Veterans Day (Wednesday, Nov. 11), I want to acknowledge the extraordinary efforts of an essential part of the Stony Brook Medicine healthcare system that is often overlooked: the Long Island State Veterans Home.
Since 1991, the Veterans Home has been caring for veterans of the United States Armed Forces. The home is tucked away on the opposite side of Health Sciences Drive from Stony Brook University Hospital in a densely wooded area, but its presence is well known to the 200,000 veterans who live on Long Island.
This 350-bed nursing home has been front and center in caring for patients during the coronavirus pandemic. The staff has done an outstanding job in responding to the needs of the home’s patients, who are considered high-risk populations.
During the spring of this year, the Veterans Home saw a surge of COVID-positive residents, and their caregivers and ancillary staff demonstrated great courage and dedication in responding to the crisis.
The home has had six focused Infection Control reviews from the New York state Department of Health since March and have been deficiency free on each one. Today, the number of COVID-positive residents is minimal and the Veterans Home work force remains valiant and vigilant as they continue to care for America’s Heroes. They are accepting new admissions and remain mission focused.
The Veterans Home serves honorably discharged veterans, their spouses and widows, as well Gold Star parents. Services available include short term rehab, traditional long term care, Alzheimer’s/dementia care as well as palliative/end of life care. They also offer a medical model Adult Day Health Care program (which has been temporarily suspended due to the virus) for veterans living in the community. The federal government provides benefits and entitlements for veterans requiring long term care, including “no cost” care to veterans who are 70 percent or more service connected disabled. You can always reach out to the Home at 631-444-VETS for more information.
The Veterans Home is also a major teaching affiliate for Stony Brook University Hospital and is one of a few nursing homes in the nation fully integrated into the health and educational mission of a major teaching and research university. This affiliation enables the home to offer Long Island's veterans access to the best healthcare professionals and most advanced medical technology in the region.
We are proud of our long-term partnership with the home, which has become a national model for research, education and the training of tomorrow’s long-term-care and geriatric professionals. And we are equally proud to provide essential healthcare for Long Island’s veterans throughout the year.
On Veterans Day, I hope you will join me in celebrating not only our veterans, but our physicians and staff who so ably care for them. We will be holding a virtual ceremony on Wednesday at 1 pm, and you can register to attend by clicking here.
Happy Veterans Day to all.
Carol
The LISVH is an amazing…
The LISVH is an amazing place with an amazing, professional and compassionate staff. They serve our veterans with the care and respect they deserve. Thank you for all you do! Happy Veteran's Day.
Thank you Carol for this entry. I have been a nurse at Stony Brook for the past 20 years and I always thought of the Vets home as a regular nursing home. I never even visited it. I can now appreciate it for all the services that it provides to our veterans. Maybe one day when the pandemic is over I will go and visit it.
Thank you again and be safe.