AMVETS organization donates to
Quincy Veterans' Home    

Funds will benefit the R.E. Northern Guest House and the Markword Infirmary

[JUNE 26, 2004]  SPRINGFIELD -- The Illinois AMVETS Health Care Facility has announced a donation of $210,000 to the Illinois Veterans' Home at Quincy for renovation of the R.E Northern Guest House. An additional $18,000 will be donated by the Illinois AMVETS Service Foundation for a new fence around the patio of the Markword Infirmary, which will allow the residents to enjoy the outdoors with an added safety feature.

The donation for the guesthouse came out of concern that the house would have to close due to life safety code violations found during a recent inspection by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Due to the VA's concerns, the residents of the home will not be permitted to stay overnight with family members until the renovation is completed.

The home has identified four, two-bed bedrooms in a separate building on the grounds, and those facilities will be used in lieu of the guesthouse rooms during renovation. On an average, approximately eight guests stay every night in the house. Any additional visitors will have to stay in local hotels, which have offered great rates to visiting families.

The first floor of the two-story guesthouse will remain open while engineering design work is conducted. After remodeling is complete, the second floor will once again be used, with a total capacity of 28 visitors. Time of completion of the project is estimated from six to eight months.

"The guesthouse is a great service for our residents and their families," said Mike Hutmacher, administrator of the Quincy Veterans' Home. "Their safety and well-being is our greatest concern. Over the years, the AMVETS and many of its posts and auxiliaries throughout Illinois have been very generous with the time and money that they provide to the veterans who reside at the Illinois Veterans' Home at Quincy, and [we] look forward to working with them for many years to come. We thank the Illinois AMVETS Health Care Facility for this tremendous generosity."

AMVETS has provided service and support to America's veterans and to their communities for almost 60 years.

"I would like to personally thank the AMVETS organization for their commitment to the residents and their spouses of the Illinois Veterans' Home at Quincy, as well as all Illinois veterans," said Roy L. Dolgos, director of the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs. "Their pledge to support veterans and their communities is visible with this generous donation."

Dedicated in 1886, the Illinois Veterans' Home at Quincy is one of the larger and older veterans homes in the country. All levels of health care, ranging from domiciliary to skilled nursing care and two Alzheimer's units, are offered at the home. Today over 530 veterans and their spouses call the facility home.

[Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs
news release]