Reverend wants hospital turned into a veterans nursing home

March 12--HARTSELLE -- A Priceville minister wants the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs to turn the now-shuttered Hartselle Medical Center into a nursing home for veterans.

The Rev. James Henderson believes the Hartselle hospital site could reduce or eliminate the waiting lists at the state's four veterans nursing homes, especially the Floyd E. Tut Fann home in Huntsville.

Henderson, representatives of Reps. Robert Aderholt and Mo Brooks, Hartselle Mayor Randy Garrison and Director of Development Jeff Johnson toured the Sparkman Street facility with Decatur Morgan Hospital officials Friday.

Huntsville Hospital owns the Decatur and Hartselle hospitals. It bought Hartselle Medical Center after Capella Healthcare closed it in 2012.

The Hartselle hospital is empty but is maintained at a minimum level. While a musty smell lingers throughout the building, most of it is dry . The only major visible problem is a roof leak that left water standing in the kitchen.

Johnson said the center's utilities and safety systems would have to be brought up to city and state code to reopen.

Henderson said he inquired with Huntsville Hospital about the possibility of the state buying the 90,000-square-foot, four-story facility that was previously licensed for 120 beds, but a hospital official offered to give the center to the state.

"When he started talking about giving us this property, I was almost in tears," Henderson said.

Decatur Morgan Hospital spokeswoman Leigh Hays said DMH officials were asked to show the property, but she could not confirm an offer to give the Hartselle center to the state.

"We've looked at numerous offers," Hays said. "We're open to exploring all offers that come to us."

An Episcopal priest, Henderson said the wife of a 92-year-old veteran and a church member asked him for help in gaining admittance for her husband into a veterans nursing home, which at the time had a two-year waiting list.

"A private nursing home costs $5,000 a month," Henderson said. "He passed away before we could get him into a state home. We know a lot of veterans live on Social Security and not much more, or they're in a condition in which their family can't take care of them."

Henderson said he led 200 soldiers as a 25-year-old U.S. Army captain in the Vietnam War.

"They were willing to put their lives on the line and literally die," Henderson said. "We owe them in their time of need."

State Veterans Affairs spokeswoman Belinda Bassinet said waiting lists are between four months and two years at the state's four veterans nursing homes. Tut Fann's wait time is up to 10 months for its 150 skilled nursing beds.

Built in 2012, Colonel Robert Howard State Veterans Home in Pell City is the state's newest home, but it has a wait of up to two years.

Bassinet said her department determined that converting Hartselle Medical Center to a veterans nursing home isn't feasible because of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs regulations. She said two-thirds of her department's funding comes from the federal government.

Federal regulations, Bassinet said, "generally require that nursing homes must have a home atmosphere with private rooms like an assisted living facility."

Bassinet said renovating the Hartselle facility to meet federal standards would be more expensive than building a new facility.

Roger Grove, a U.S. Army veteran of Vietnam and Operation Iraqi Freedom, said he thinks converting the Hartselle center is a great idea. He said all veterans want is a clean, efficient place to live, with good quality care.

"We don't need a condo at the beach," Grove said.

Grove said available nursing home space is especially important for veterans who no longer have a family to oversee their care.

Henderson isn't deterred by the state's initial rejection. The reverend prayed at two of Donald Trump's Alabama campaign stops during the election and was a Trump delegate at the Republican National Convention.

He believes he can use his connections with the Trump administration to gain a waiver for the state. "I know people who will want to do this," Henderson said.

Henderson said the state has failed to apply for $120 million annually in federal VA grants, which he said could pay for converting the hospital into a nursing home.

In February, Henderson introduced and the state Republican Party executive committee approved a resolution pushing for the state Department of Veterans Affairs to do an analysis and come up with a five-year plan on addressing the nursing home problem.

Bassinet said her department's most recent needs assessment is 10 years old, so there are plans to start on a new one in 2018.

"That would identify where we want to build our next nursing home," Bassinet said. "We don't have one in the Wiregrass area (around Dothan), so I expect that's the most likely location for the next home."

State Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, said she is aware of Henderson because he's a vocal anti-abortion activist, but she had not heard about his push for a veterans nursing home at Hartselle Medical Center. She didn't attend the Republican executive committee meeting.

"If he's working with Mr. Brooks' and Mr. Aderholt's representatives, he's moving in the right direction," Collins said.

[email protected] or 256-340-2432. Twitter @DD_BayneHughes.

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