EDITORIAL: Regional cooperation on display with new veterans nursing home

Oct. 31--Praise for the efforts by St. Lucie County and Port St. Lucie governments in securing approval for a Veterans Affairs nursing home has been well-justified. But, efforts to help bring the home to the region spread far beyond St. Lucie County.

Months of work and regional coordination led to Gov. Rick Scott and the state Cabinet selecting the 28-acre site in Tradition as the state's seventh VA nursing home, expected to serve more than 200,000 older veterans in a 75-mile radius.

"It really was a team effort," said Pete Tesch, president of the Economic Development Council of St. Lucie County, noting that developers of Tradition donated land for the project.

Communitywide support within St. Lucie County, he said, probably played a major role in a site selection committee ranking the local site first. But efforts by those in other Treasure Coast counties showed what cooperation can accomplish.

St. Lucie County Commissioner Frannie Hutchinson, governmental point person for the project, noted this week that county commissions and city councils in Martin, Indian River and Okeechobee counties also submitted letters of support for the nursing home application. In addition, numerous veterans organizations throughout the Treasure Coast also supported it. In fact, a veterans group representative from Okeechobee County traveled to Tallahassee to support St. Lucie County's presentation to the Cabinet.

State lawmakers from throughout the Treasure Coast -- and even in Palm Beach County -- also backed the local nursing home, Hutchinson said. As the governor and Cabinet met to consider the site, elected officials in Marion County supported the St. Lucie proposal. Marion finished a close second in the selection process.

When the nursing home opens, it is expected to serve veterans from the Treasure Coast as well as Highlands, Brevard, Glades, Polk, Palm Beach, Hendry and Osceola counties.

Hutchinson said the regional support that St. Lucie County received for the facility is a "good example" of how governments can cooperate for the common good.

"Lots can be accomplished when we work together," she said.

Indeed, that example of cooperation should serve as a reminder in other efforts where various governments, agencies, businesses and individuals in the region sometimes fail to recognize or act in the interest of the common good.

Working together could prove invaluable in the future in areas such as economic development in the recruitment of new businesses and jobs, dredging projects and beach renourishment, transportation, and health of our waterways, including the Indian River Lagoon.

An example has been set for what can be done. It mustn't be forgotten.

___

(c)2014 the Treasure Coast Newspapers (Stuart, Fla.)

Visit the Treasure Coast Newspapers (Stuart, Fla.) at www.tcpalm.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services