St. Joe’s unsure but hopeful about veteran facility funds
By PETER CROWLEY, Enterprise Managing EditorArticle Photos
SARANAC LAKE - With cuts expected from Albany, officials at St. Joseph's Rehabilitation Center aren't sure whether the state's 2009 budget will include funds for their new facility, which would be for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars who suffer from addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder.
St. Joseph's officials hope to start construction sometime in 2009 on the 26-bed facility that would primarily be for housing and treating soldiers with dual diagnoses of PTSD and addiction.
"We hope and expect that, given the importance of the program to returning veterans, that once the state budget is determined we will be able to proceed with the veterans' residence at some point in the coming year," St. Joseph's said in a prepared statement.
Earlier this year, the state Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services awarded St. Joseph's a capital budget of between $2 million and $3 million to build the facility and an annual operating budget of $1.5 million. It will be up to Gov. David Paterson and Legislature to make those funds available, however.
Contact Peter Crowley at (518) 891-2600 ext. 22 or pcrowley@adirondackdailyenterprise.com.
