Arizona Benefits for Veterans       The Arizona Department of Veterans Services assists Arizona veterans and their dependents in receiving all their federal and state benefits, and delivers quality services at our Arizona State Veteran Home located in Phoenix and our Southern Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Sierra Vista.        The Arizona State Veteran Home (ASVH) is a new 200 bed licensed and skilled nursing facility located at 4141 N. Third Street, Phoenix, Arizona. This is a State owned and operated facility built to serve the long term needs of the veterans of Arizona.        The 200 beds are divided into four 50 bed units. One hundred fifty skilled beds and a 50 bed Alzheimer's Unit. There are 24 Medicare certified beds on the fifty bed sub-acute unit. Each unit has an individual dining room and a well decorated day room with a big screen TV. There is a centralized nursing station on each unit. Each resident has a private telephone and a TV with a remote control. There is a gift shop, a beauty/barber shop and a meditation room for the use of the residents and family members. A southwestern motif is followed throughout the building providing a very pleasant color scheme.          The staff at ASVH believes in caring for the whole person: body, mind and spirit. Maximizing the quality of life of each resident in a home like environment is the premise of ASVH philosophy. Veterans (including spouses and widows) are eligible for admission.       A totally committed and comprehensive nursing care program is administered 24 hours a day, seven days a week. ASVH staff offer the best in physical therapy, occupational, speech therapy, and respiratory therapy, rehabilitative work and exercise classes.        Resident rooms are designed to impart both a sense of privacy as well as convenience. All rooms are equipped with special modifications for the wheelchair disabled such as wide doors, specially designed lavatories, and high commodes. Every room is furnished with a phone and television. Housekeeping and laundry services are also provided.        A Veterans Benefits Counselor is available to assist the residents in obtaining their veteran benefits. Social Services is available to provide support for residents and their families.         Our Mission      The mission of the Arizona State Veteran Home is to provide professional skilled nursing care for the geriatric and chronically ill veteran and dependent/surviving spouses throughout the State of Arizona. Skilled care is to include physical, psychological, social, emotional, and spiritual aspects. Our mission is to meet the increasingly complex long-term health care needs of veteran/spouses. Care is provided regardless of age, race, creed or sex.        Philosophy      The services provided by the Arizona State Veteran Home must adapt to meet the ever changing health care needs of the population served. Care provided at the Arizona State Veteran Home is based on the most currently accepted knowledge, practices, and technologies implemented through skilled personnel. In all levels of care, interdisciplinary approaches are planned with the resident and/or family to meet his or her needs. Programs are aimed at meeting long term health care needs and encouraging wellness though preventive and rehabilitative services offered to assist in attaining and maintaining an optimal level of functioning.        Age, disability, or terminal illness should not limit the individual's right to experience life to the fullest extent possible. Despite the complexity of care required and the degree of disability, the Arizona State Veteran Home strives to provide care which promotes the resident's dignity, self-determination, happiness, and well-being in a home-like environment. Basic to the emphasis is fostering the individual to be as self-determining and independent as possible.      The Arizona State Veteran Home is committed to quality care. It is important to anticipate trends in care needs and plan services to meet those trends, evaluate the care provided, research new approaches, and update programming. The Arizona State Veteran Home has the responsibility to share findings with others involved in long-term health care services.         Admission     An applicant is eligible for admission if the applicant is a veteran or the spouse of a veteran. The applicant must require skilled nursing care as determined by a physician. There must be documented evidence of the absence of tuberculosis. Admission information and forms may be obtained by calling the Admission Coordinator at (602) 248-1550. Assistance will be provided in completing the forms if requested.          Cemetery Benefits       The Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services has established the cemetery on approximately 145 acres of land which was previously part of Ft. Huachuca Military Reservation.  The cemetery entrance is south of Fry Boulevard on Buffalo Solder Trail. The state veterans’ cemetery has been made possible by a grant from the VA State Cemetery Grant Service in the amount of $7.7 million for construction and equipment.      The Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Southern Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemetery was held October 1, 2001 and construction started the next day.  The cemetery dedication was held on October 26th; interments began on Dec 3rd.  Any veteran who has an other than dishonorable discharge is eligible for burial in the SAVMC.  Spouses and certain dependents are also eligible for burial.  There is no charge for interment, for either veterans or their family members.  Veterans may choose:      1.  A columbaria niche (which includes an inscribed granite niche marker) or      2. A full-casket, in-ground burial (which includes an inscribed upright grave marker and a single or double concrete crypt liner).       Applications for burial are available at the cemetery; most funeral homes in Arizona also have copies of the application.           Transportation Discount      Effective October 1, 2015, veterans with a valid Veteran ID Card will now be able to ride the CAT and Lynx buses for half price. What this means is that fares for Veterans wanting to ride on CAT buses will pay $0.50 per ride and on Lynx buses will pay $1.  All passes will also be half price. Veterans are encouraged to purchase passes for their convenience. Veterans will just need to provide a valid Veteran ID Card in order to get the reduced rates. Passes are available for purchase at the Verde Valley Transit Facility, Cottonwood Recreation Center, Cottonwood Library, and Cottonwood Finance Office. Passes are also available at the City of Sedona Finance office.  Contact the CAT office at (928) 634-2287 for more information.