State Vets Home should stay in Hot Springs

The S.D. State Veterans Home has served veterans and their families since the cornerstone was laid in 1889 at what was called the S.D. State Soldiers Home on a hilltop in Hot Springs. The state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs says the facility has a lot of maintenance issues and no longer meets modern methods of long-term health care. Rapid City, Sturgis and Hot Springs are under consideration for a new 125-bed long-term care facility in western South Dakota, according to a letter from department secretary Maj. Gen. Steven Doohen.

Our question is, why is any community but Hot Springs even being considered for such a facility? Hot Springs, known as the “Veterans’ Town,” is not only home to the Michael J. Fitzmaurice State Veterans Home, but also home to the Veterans Administration Medical Center, which is the primary care provider to the State Veterans Home. This would seem to be an ideal arrangement that should be continued with a new facility in Hot Springs.

Some, like Rapid City Mayor Alan Hanks, have indicated the new facility should be built in his community and has even offered seven acres of land on Highway 16 near the Regional Hospital complex. Hanks reminds us of the famous answer given by John D. Rockefeller to the question, “How much more money is enough?” His answer was, “Just a little bit more.”  It’s OK to be an advocate for your city, but don’t do it at the expense of other Black Hills communities, Mr. Hanks. Think what you could be doing to one of your neighboring communities before you offer free land.

Most veterans at the Hot Springs home come from small rural communities in South Dakota. They are at home in Hot Springs because it is a community much like those they once lived in. They receive excellent individual attention from dedicated professional care givers. The State Veterans Home is, indeed, home to the residents and should remain so.

Hot Springs is a friendly community that has taken care of our veterans for over 100 years. Veterans feel safe in walking and driving around the community. We doubt that they would have the same kind of security in trying to get out and walk or drive on the much busier streets of Rapid City. The wellbeing of the residents of the State Veterans Home should be the primary concern of all. They are being well cared for now in Hot Springs.

Rapid City is already the hub of the Black Hills. However, it doesn’t need to get greedy and have everything located there. After all, there is economic life in the Black Hills outside the Rapid City community. Rapid City should realize that it is only as strong as the smaller towns around it that provide employment for those who wish to spend some of their money there.

 Hot Springs just got over its annual concern about the VA Medical Center closing or downsizing there. The truth is that there is an influx of Vietnam veterans now entering the government health care system which will only add to the load put on it by World War II veterans. Hot Springs citizens shouldn’t have the added concern about losing another major employer like the State Veterans Home.

For the sake of our veterans, we need to insure that the State Veterans Home stays where it belongs in the friendly and laid back community of Hot Springs where it has been since 1889.