Utah State Veterans Homes: who qualifies, what it costs and how to apply

For many Utah families, a State Veterans Home is the first place they think of when a veteran can no longer be safely cared for at home. These are full nursing homes, with round-the-clock nurses and aides, built and run for people who served, and in some cases for the people who stood beside them.

Utah’s four State Veterans Homes

The Utah Department of Veterans and Military Affairs oversees the homes, and a contracted private healthcare company runs daily operations. Addresses and phone numbers below are as listed on veterans.utah.gov.

Each home has its own feel. The Salt Lake home opened in 1998 and has a downstairs memory care unit. The Ogden home offers short-term rehabilitation along with long-term skilled nursing and memory care. The Payson and Ivins homes are built as small households: nine communities, each with its own kitchen, dining room and living room, and twelve private rooms with private bathrooms. A replacement for the Salt Lake home, a planned 105-bed building in West Valley City, is in the environmental review stage.

Who can live in a Utah veterans home?

• Veterans. Utah says a veteran is generally eligible if they served on active duty, or deployed while serving in the reserves.
• Spouses of veterans.
• Gold Star parents, meaning parents of a service member who died while serving.

Federal rules shape the mix. In homes the VA helped build, non-veteran residents such as spouses and Gold Star parents can make up no more than 25% of residents, so space for them can be tighter. Each home will also look at your loved one’s care needs to make sure it can meet them.

How much does a Utah veterans home cost?

Cost depends on who the resident is and on the veteran’s service-connected disability rating.

The state does not publish private-pay rates online, so ask the home directly for its current daily rate, what it includes, and which other payers it works with, such as Medicare for short-term rehab, Medicaid for long-term care, or long-term care insurance.

How to apply

There is no single statewide application. Each home handles its own admissions, so call the home you prefer and ask for the admissions coordinator. Having these ready will speed things up:

• The veteran’s DD-214 or other discharge papers.
• The VA rating decision letter, if the veteran has a service-connected rating.
• Recent medical records, a current medication list, and the name of the primary doctor.
• Medicare, Medicaid, supplemental and long-term care insurance cards.
• For a spouse, a marriage certificate. For a Gold Star parent, proof of the relationship and the service member’s death in service.
• Any power of attorney or guardianship paperwork.

Openings change from week to week, and private rooms, memory care beds and spots for non-veterans may fill sooner than others. Ask each home whether it keeps a waiting list, how long it has been running lately, and whether you can apply to more than one home at the same time.

If a veterans home is not the right fit

A State Veterans Home is only one of the VA’s long-term care settings. The VA also contracts with community nursing homes and offers care at home. Our guide to what long-term care the VA pays for walks through those choices, and you can compare skilled nursing options near Ogden and across the Wasatch Front.

What to do next

1. Pick the one or two homes closest to the people who will visit most.
2. Call admissions and ask about openings, the daily rate and the paperwork list.
3. Find the DD-214 and VA rating letter now. Lost discharge papers can take time to replace.
4. If the veteran has never filed for a service-connected rating, talk with a free Veteran Service Officer at 801-326-2372. A higher rating can change the bill dramatically.

Common questions

Is there a VA nursing home in Ogden, Utah?

Yes. The George E. Wahlen Ogden Veterans Home is at 1102 North 1200 West in Ogden, phone 801-334-4300. It is a state veterans home rather than a VA medical center, but the VA helps pay for eligible veterans’ care there.

Can a spouse live in a Utah veterans home?

Yes, spouses of veterans are eligible for admission. The VA does not subsidize a spouse’s care, so the cost falls to the spouse’s own income, insurance or other benefits, and space for non-veterans is limited by federal rules.

Is there a veterans home near St. George?

The Southern Utah Veterans Home is in Ivins, just outside St. George, at 160 N. 200 E. The phone number is 435-634-5220.

Do veterans with a 70% rating pay anything?

Utah states there is no cost for veterans with a service-connected disability rating of 70% or higher. Confirm the details with the home, since the rating has to be on file.