Long Island State Veterans Home Receives $12.5 Million In Funding From VA Construction Grant Program

The Long Island State Veterans Home is the recent recipient of a $12.5 million VA Construction Grant Award as announced by VA Secretary Erik K. Shinseki.

Congressman Timothy Bishop (1^st Congressional District) and State Senator John J. Flanagan (2^nd Senate District) joined Long Island State Veterans Home Executive Director Fred S. Sganga and Frank Demarco, Chairman of the LISVH Veterans Advisory Board to formally announce the joint effort between the New York State Senate, the Long Island Congressional Delegation and the Veterans Administration in securing $12.5 million in funding for facility upgrades at the Home. The funding announcement was part of the Long Island State Veterans Home's Veterans Day Celebration, an event thanking veterans for their sacrifice, service and duty to our country.

"The VA Construction Grant program is a great example of a successful partnership between the Federal and State government.  This program has enabled the Long Island State Veterans Home to improve its physical plant and provide a safe, home-like environment, whereby reinforcing the Home’s unyielding commitment to caring for our future frail, elderly veterans. We are truly grateful to Senator Flanagan for his unwavering support and steadfast commitment to our aging veterans," said Fred S. Sganga, Executive Director of the Long Island State Veterans Home.  "Senator Flanagan has always been there for us with New York State matching funds.  Through his efforts, the Veterans Home has been able to secure almost $26 million in Federal and State funding over the past ten years.”

The Construction Grant award will enable the LISVH to undergo a major renovation/revitalization to the interior of the facility in order to enhance the safety and comfort of those veterans who reside at the Home.

"Our veterans deserve the best care possible as a thank you for all they have done for our country.  This funding will provide them with the best care and the best facilities possible and they deserve nothing less," stated Senator Flanagan, a member of the Committee on Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs.  "The Long Island State Veterans Home at Stony Brook is an important part of our community and I am proud to be able to assist them with their important work."

"As a nation, we owe a debt of gratitude to our veterans and their service that we can never repay," Congressman Bishop said.  "Securing this funding for the Long Island State Veterans Home is a small way of improving their quality of life and saying 'thank you.'"

The VA Construction Grant program is one of the oldest partnerships between federal government and the states. Each year, though the support of Congressman Bishop, the Federal government allocates approximately $85 million to fund the State Veterans Home Construction Grant Program. Through this initiative, individual states compete for funding which must be used to either construct or renovate designated State Veterans facilities that provide skilled nursing or domiciliary care. The federal government appropriates 65% of the construction costs provided that each state makes a commitment of 35% in state matching funds.

For the past ten years, NYS Senator Flanagan has worked on behalf of the Veterans Home to help secure the state funding necessary for capturing these federal dollars. The funding helps to ensure that Long Island’s veterans have a first class skilled nursing facility and medical model adult day health care program to receive care.