VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — For the 680,000 veterans in the Commonwealth of Virginia -- one out of every 12 people who live here - there is now a new place to call home, right here in Virginia Beach.
The Virginia Department Veterans Services' Jones & Cabacoy Veterans Care Center sits on a 26-acre piece of land, donated by the City of Virginia Beach and located near the Municipal Center. The 128-bed facility features all private rooms.
It's been in the works since 2017.
"It's ... representative of the way we need to serve our veterans, which is to make sure they can get the help they need, when they need it, where they need it," said Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
Added Craig Crenshaw, Virginia Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs: "This is what Virginia does: to bring facilities like this, to take care of the veterans, the veterans who put their life on tine, who earned and deserve this type of care."
The facility provides skilled nursing care, short-term rehabilitation, and Alzheimer's and dementia care for veteran residents, including physical and occupational therapy, speech and language pathology, nutrition, and bathing assistance.
For the more than 120,000 military veterans who live on the south side of Hampton Roads, it is a game-changer.
"Definitely. There's tons of vets who live on Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, and the area over here," said Marine Corps veteran Patrick Brown, who was wounded in Afghanistan.
The center's name honors the lives of two war heroes: Colonel William Jones III and Sergeant Christopher Cabacoy, both from the Hampton Roads area.
Also in the pipeline: the new federal Department of Veterans Affairs Chesapeake Health Care Center. Ground was broken last October for that 196,000-square-foot facility next to Chesapeake Regional Healthcare on Battlefield Boulevard.
It's hoped that it will be finished and opened to vets in the fall of 2024.