The VA Long Beach Healthcare System announces the opening of a long-term care unit for veterans with spinal cord injury (SCI), multiple sclerosis (MS), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

This unit is the sixth in the nation, and the only one on the West Coast, operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to a media release from Paralyzed Veterans of America.

Per the release, Paralyzed Veterans of America has been advocating for a facility like this one in Long Beach for more than 10 years.

The 12-bed facility is equipped to not only serve residents with SCI, MS, and ALS, it is also able to provide extended care to patients requiring ventilator care, according to the release.

In addition, the facility is a home-like environment, the release explains, with public living room areas that encourage socializing and camaraderie, and bedrooms designed to be personalized.

“This Long-Term-Care unit will provide much-needed care for catastrophically injured veterans when family members or other caregivers can no longer address their needs,” says Al Kovach, Jr, national president of Paralyzed Veterans of America, in the release.

The release notes that in areas where the Department of Veterans Affairs does not provide such facilities, veterans without alternatives are often relegated to nursing homes or other facilities unequipped to provide for their specialized care needs.

“The doors are now open and ready to serve those veterans who might otherwise have nowhere else to go for long-term care,” Kovach states in the release.

[Source(s): Paralyzed Veterans of America, Business Wire]