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Tampa VA Center Dedicates New Wing For Long-Term Care

Tampa Tribune Photo by KENNETH KNIGHT

Cathy Slosser, a nurse in the new F Wing at James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital, left, works with co-workers Jeanne Van Eepoel, sitting in the lift, Monica Knowles and Cassandra Cardona to demonstrate a new lift system installed in every patient room in the new long-term care center for military veterans living with spinal cord injuries.

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By KENNETH KNIGHT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 22, 2008

TAMPA - A hospital wing that will serve as home to 30 military veterans living with spinal cord injuries was dedicated today at the James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital.

The F Wing is a long-term care facility that features high-tech beds equipped with an overhead patient lift system designed to help nurses turn or move a patient. The center opened June 16. Fifteen veterans have moved in.

The new wing is equipped with the comforts of home, including Internet access, cable television, a gymnasium and food delivery services. The addition brings the number of beds in the hospital's spinal cord injury department to 100.

About 100 veterans, hospital patients and staff attended the dedication ceremony.

Among politicians in attendance was former U.S. Rep. Michael Bilirakis, R-Tarpon Springs, who was instrumental in helping secure funding for the expansion project. Providing quality medical care for veterans will always be a continuing cost of war, he said.

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