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128-bed veterans facility coming to Virginia Beach named after Virginia heroes

Posted at 4:51 PM, Jun 07, 2017
and last updated 2017-06-07 16:51:28-04

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Governor Terry McAuliffe announced Wednesday that the 128-bed veterans facility planned for Virginia Beach will be named the Jones & Cabacoy Veterans Care Center.

The future Jones & Cabacoy Veterans Care Center, a long-term nursing care center located in Virginia Beach, will be the first of its kind in the Hampton Roads region, the Governor’s Office announced.

The center will specialize in caring for patients with Alzheimer’s, dementia, and other chronic illnesses. It will also provide both long-term nursing care and short-term rehabilitation.

Colonel William A. Jones, III was born in Norfolk and graduated from West Point in 1945. Next, he transferred to the newly formed U.S. Air Force and served in the Vietnam War with distinction. Jones received the Medal of Honor for acts of conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action when, in 1968, he went on a rescue mission to retrieve a fellow pilot, took on enemy fire, managed to return to base safely, and conveyed all information to save the pilot before seeking medical treatment for himself. Jones died in an airplane accident near Woodbridge, Virginia in 1969.

Army Staff Sergeant Christopher F. Cabacoy was a Virginia Beach native. He graduated from Tallwood High School in 1997 and studied engineering at Old Dominion University before joining the U.S. Army in 2000. He served 10 years with distinction in the U.S. Army, assigned to the 1st Squadron, 71st Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain Division based at Ft. Drum, N.Y. He died on July 5, 2010 when insurgents in Kandahar attacked his vehicle with a homemade bomb.

The new Jones & Cabacoy Veterans Care Center will be built in the Princess Anne section of Virginia Beach, on a 26-acre site next to the planned extension of Nimmo Parkway,  the Governor’s Office said.

The land for the site was donated by the City of Virginia Beach at no cost to the state.

The 128-bed facility will feature all private rooms, organized into households and neighborhoods that surround a central community center.

It will provide in-patient skilled nursing, Alzheimer’s and memory care, and short-term rehabilitative care for Virginia veterans.

The center is scheduled to open in late 2019.

During the announcement of the center the Governor also announced his signing of four pieces of legislation in support of active-duty service members, veterans, and their families.