Governor McAuliffe Names New Hampton Roads Veterans Care Center for Two Virginia Heroes

~ 128-bed Jones & Cabacoy Veterans Care Center to be built in Virginia Beach; will offer in-patient skilled care for Virginia veterans ~

Governor Terry McAuliffe today announced that the forthcoming 128-bed veterans facility, planned for Virginia Beach, will be named the Jones & Cabacoy Veterans Care Center. Additionally, the Governor signed four pieces of legislation in support of active-duty service members, veterans, and their families.

“I am proud to announce that we are naming the new Veterans Care Center after two Tidewater natives, who served Virginia and our nation in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army in Vietnam and Afghanistan, respectively,” said Governor McAuliffe. “I am especially pleased that family members of Colonel William A. Jones, III and Staff Sergeant Christopher F. Cabacoy joined us today for this special announcement. I look forward to joining them in Virginia Beach later this year to break ground on this new facility.”

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. This new Veterans Care 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, Va. He graduated from West Point in1945 and then transferred to the newly formed U.S. Air Force. He served in the Vietnam War with distinction and 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, Va. 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.

In addition to naming the Jones & Cabacoy Veterans Care Center, Governor McAuliffe signed the following legislation: HB2206 (Cox), HB1721 (Anderson), HB2279 (Hester), and SB1164 (Reeves).

About the Jones & Cabacoy Veterans Care Center
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 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. It is slated to open in late 2019. To learn more, please visit www.dvs.virginia.gov.

About the Virginia Department of Veterans Services
The Virginia Department of Veterans Services (VDVS) operates 28 benefit offices that assist veterans and their family members in filing claims for federal veterans benefits; two veterans care centers offering in-patient skilled nursing care, Alzheimer’s and memory care, and short-term rehabilitative care for veterans, and three veterans cemeteries that provide an honored final resting place for veterans and their families. VDVS provides veterans and family members with direct linkages to needed services including behavioral healthcare, housing, employment, education, and other programs. The Department also operates the Virginia War Memorial, the Commonwealth of Virginia’s monument to honor the memory of Virginia’s men and women who demonstrated a willingness to serve and fight to defend our way of life from World War II to the present. To learn more, visit www.dvs.virginia.gov.
iffe Names New Hampton Roads Veterans Care Center for Two Virginia Heroes