Enough said: http://journaltimes.com/news/local/f...9bb2963f4.html

Officials gathered Tuesday at the Wisconsin Veterans Home at Union Grove to rededicate the recently remodeled Gates Hall as a new skilled nursing facility.

The $4.9 million project replaced assisted living units at Gates Hall with new facilities designed to accommodate those with illness, injuries or other ailments that require regular observation by a nurse — care that is in high demand, according to Randy Nitschke, division administrator of Wisconsin Veterans Homes.

Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch and Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary John Scocos were among those in attendance for Tuesday’s rededication ceremony.

“May God richly bless the opening and the success of Gates Hall,” Kleefisch said to the crowd of more than 50 gathered inside the remodeled facility, after she paid homage to Marcia Gates. The building’s namesake was one of the “Angels of Bataan,” nurses who served in the Philippines in World War II.

The first residents of the 38-bed facility moved in last week and the rooms at Gates Hall are expected to be filled by the end of the month, Nitschke said, evidence of the “pent-up need in the Racine and Kenosha area (for skilled nursing care).”

During the past three years, the veterans home, 21425 Spring St., has seen a dramatic drop in the requests for assisted living accommodations, according to Nitschke, while the 158-bed skilled nursing facility at Boland Hall has remained at full occupancy with a wait list that typically sits between 25 and 35 people.

Cornelius Kramer, 88, a World War II veteran in General George Patton’s Army, was at Tuesday’s ceremony and said he is looking forward to moving into Gates Hall from nearby Boland.

“Each room has a personal shower, the rooms are bigger and the beds are bigger — the facilities are top-notch,” Kramer said.

The shift toward more skilled nursing beds is expected to not only help meet the demand by veterans and their families but also improve the financial situation at the veterans home, according to Nitschke.

In fiscal year 2011, the facility lost $6 million. The closing of two assisted living halls helped bring the number closer to even but the total still came in at a loss of $1.8 million after fiscal year 2012.

In the past, Wisconsin Veterans Homes has covered its losses in Union Grove with profits from their facility in King, which now operates with economies of scale, increasing profitability, according to Nitschke.

“Twenty-two months ago we were faced with the dilemma of ‘can we move forward with Union Grove and King,’ ” Scocos said at the ceremony. “And today we’ve proven we can.”

The $4.9 million project at Gates Hall was approved in February 2012 by the state Legislature. Federal funds cover 65 percent of the project with the remaining amount coming from existing program revenue from the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs.

Gov. Scott Walker was one of the project’s primary supporters, according to Nitschke. Walker wasn’t in attendance Tuesday but was at the Union Grove facility, along with Kleefisch, on May 27 for Memorial Day.

“Freedom isn’t free,” Kleefisch said after Tuesday’s ceremony, “and our veterans gave it to us and it’s very important that we continue to show the respect and the honor to our service members that they really deserve.”