Welcome Home - A Podcast for Veterans, About Veterans, By Veterans

Building a Home for Heroes: The Puller Veterans Care Center Coming Soon

• Larry Zilliox • Season 3 • Episode 111

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Northern Virginia's veteran community has been eagerly watching the construction of the Puller Veterans Care Center, and now we're getting closer to its highly anticipated opening. Mary Tietjen, the center's Director of Admissions, will join us to explain precisely what makes this facility so special and what veterans and their families can expect.

As Virginia's fourth state-run veterans nursing home, the Puller Center represents a significant investment in our aging veteran population. Unlike typical institutional settings, this 128-bed facility features an innovative "neighborhood" design where residents have private rooms but share intimate household spaces with just 15 other veterans. Each household includes its own kitchen, dining area, and community spaces to foster the camaraderie that many veterans miss after leaving service.

Mary walks us through the meticulous process of preparing such a facility, from the physical setup to the complex certification requirements involving the Department of Health, Medicaid, Medicare, and ultimately the VA. While these necessary steps mean the center won't open until sometime later in 2025, the wait promises to be worthwhile. The facility will initially offer short-term and long-term rehabilitation, with plans to incorporate memory care services.

What stands out most is the overwhelming community response. Mary's phone rings constantly with not only veterans and families hoping to secure a spot but also community members eager to volunteer their time and talents. From gardening to reading to musical entertainment, the surrounding community is ready to embrace these veterans and enhance their quality of life.

For those with veteran family members who might benefit from this level of care, Mary explains the waitlist process and how to connect with additional veteran resources through Virginia's robust Department of Veteran Services. With nearly 900,000 veterans in Virginia and approximately 55,000 in Prince William County alone, facilities like the Puller Center are essential to meeting growing care needs.

Do you have a veteran in your family who might benefit from the Puller Veterans Care Center? Contact Mary at (540) 680-5200 or PVCCAdmissions@dvs.virginia.gov to learn more and join the waitlist. Want to volunteer your time and talents? They're collecting information now about when the doors will open!

Larry Zilliox:

Good morning. I'm your host, Larry Zilliox, Director of Culinary Services here at the Warrior Retreat at Bull Run, and this week we're joined by our co-host veteran, John Wall. Welcome, John. Thank you, larry, it's great to be here. And our guest this week is Mary Tegent. She is the Director of Admissions at the Puller Veterans Center, which is here in Northern Virginia. It's located over in the Vinhill section of Falkirk County. We've been waiting for the Puller Center to open for some time.

Larry Zilliox:

Many of you remember our first episode in season three. Our guest was Commissioner Chuck Zingler and I asked him about it and he was a little cagey as to what was going on, which I understand, because there's some construction issues and whenever there's construction issues there's usually legal issues and I get that. But today we're very excited to have Mary here so she can tell us about the facility itself and I believe it's 128 beds, but we'll confirm that and what it takes to get a property like this up and running, which I find fascinating because it's not as easy as you might think. But, mary, welcome to the podcast.

John Wall:

Thank you for having me.

Larry Zilliox:

Yes, good to have you here today. Let's start by telling everybody a little bit about your background and how you became involved with the Puller Center.

John Wall:

Well, my background has always been in marketing and admissions for senior living. So I live right around the corner from Benton Hill and I've seen the Puller Center from the ground up and I just kept watching for that right sweet spot of a job and I got it. So very, very excited. Congrats, thank you, thank you.

Larry Zilliox:

So for those listeners who aren't in the area, and I just want to give a little bit of background and I just want to give a little bit of background is that the Polar Center is actually funded and will be run by the Virginia Department of Veteran Services. So it's not a VA facility, it's a state-owned and run facility and the employees there are state employees, part of DVS Department of Veteran Services. And this, while it did receive some federal funding, most of the money came from the state and this is not the first veterans center that the state runs. There are others throughout the state. I believe there's two others.

John Wall:

So there's actually three others. This is the fourth state-run nursing home for the state of Virginia.

Larry Zilliox:

Wow.

John Wall:

So there's the first one was Roanoke, and then there's one in Richmond, and then the most recent one is Virginia Beach.

Larry Zilliox:

Down in the Tidewater area Well, which makes sense because there's a huge veteran population in the Tidewater area that's great as well as here in Northern Virginia.

Mary Tietjen:

Yeah, and those three are fully operational currently.

John Wall:

They are.

Mary Tietjen:

Okay, great, minus the one that you are now managing correct. That's correct, okay.

John Wall:

So the most recent one, virginia Beach. They opened just under two years ago and they, I believe they opened up their last section. So they're all of them are. They all have wait lists and they're getting full.

Larry Zilliox:

Wow, was I correct this one's 128 beds, or how many beds will this have?

John Wall:

You are correct, it's the exact same layout as the most recent one in Virginia Beach. It's the exact same layout as the most recent one in Virginia Beach. It's 128 single rooms, so they have their own room, own bathroom, shower, everything.

Larry Zilliox:

Wow. So if you would just kind of briefly talk about where are we at in the process, are we close to this opening?

John Wall:

So every day we're getting closer, I know.

John Wall:

Every day we're getting closer, you know, one step in front of the other. There are some processes that we have to go through. Right now we're in a setup phase. Not only you know people think about oh, you need a bed to lay in, you know, and furniture and chairs to sit on and tables to eat at, but you know there's a lot that goes on behind the scenes security, door access, it, everything has to be set up. So we're working every day to get that done. Not only so that's the setup phase, but then there's also the certification phase. So Department of Health will come in, grant us their blessing and then we'll have Medicaid and Medicare and then from there the VA will come in and we'll have a per diem. So, even though that was all said in about four or five sentences that I said, that can take several months, anywhere from three to eight months.

Mary Tietjen:

Yeah, Well, it's a long time, but it's just a lot going on in the background and to get this place up and running and I know the community and I assume veterans are really looking forward to you know somewhere to go in this area that needs it Right, and so I can't wait for those doors to open.

John Wall:

And not only the veterans. I mean, I get phone calls all the time from people who want to volunteer and offer their services. People who want to volunteer and offer their services. You know some people. They love to write cards and they want to be able to, you know, give these cards to the veterans, whereas others want to help with a garden bed, reading to veterans, singing. There's just so much. I mean, the whole community is just so, so excited.

Mary Tietjen:

They're anticipating this. They're ready to go.

John Wall:

They are ready.

Mary Tietjen:

They're charged. That's great. They are definitely ready. Yeah, that's good. You know we need more organizations like this in the area to keep pushing this. You know these missions and visions to keep helping veterans and you know service members that are going to be coming out and you know that's good that we got people in the community are waiting to sign up ready to go, so that's good.

Larry Zilliox:

So we're fortunate here in the Commonwealth we have a very strong Department of Veterans Services. Not all states have it. I don't know of another state that has four state-owned nursing homes facilities for veterans. I don't think there's another one out there. We do have a large veteran population. Here in Prince William County we're looking at about 55,000 or so. Statewide we're looking at 750,000 veterans.

Mary Tietjen:

Yeah, I think, larry. The last time I checked we're approaching 900.

Larry Zilliox:

Yeah, well that's a lot, and every year about 200,000 service members separate and become veterans. So that population is growing all the time and this is certainly as your veterans age out of their own homes the Iraq, afghanistan veterans, especially some that have serious medical issues that are going to cut their lives short. There's a growing population that needs these kind of services and I think it's important for our listeners to understand that. Here in Virginia there are a lot of VSOs and the state in particular really does try to address the needs of its veteran population, and this is just a really good example.

Larry Zilliox:

Now, getting it done is like pulling teeth, but it's getting done, and I know everybody in this area has been like when is it opening? When is it opening? What's the deal? You know it was construction related and that is out of a lot of people's hands and it's. It really has nothing to do with the crew that's there now. What are the programs that you're standing up right now? I imagine? Are you hiring for culinary? Are you hiring nursing folks, nursing assistants? Where is the manpower process right now?

John Wall:

So, and I'm not, you know, in the hiring process, but I can just speak to what I know. Most of the department heads have been hired and we're starting to look at those that fall in place behind the department heads CNAs and, you know, dietary aids and housekeeping. I don't think we're there yet, but I do know that pretty much all the department heads are there and we're just everybody's trying to fine tune their department along with working together.

Larry Zilliox:

Yeah Well, also, too, it has to be a sort of scalable issue in the sense that you can't hire, you know, 25 nurses and 35 nursing assistants when you have only three veterans in house. Have only three veterans in-house. So I get where. As you get the veterans in, you get the certifications, which is something that we really want to talk to you about. That process, so our listeners understand it's really in-depth.

Larry Zilliox:

But as you get the certifications that you need and I imagine you'll fill up pretty quick after that and you'll see this kind of really boost in hiring, which you know, listeners, if you're out there and you know you have these professional skills and you want to think about a way to give back, you know working for the Department of Veterans Service is not a bad gig. You know you're a state employee, you get a lot of benefits, you get retirement, you get a lot and it can be a career field when you're talking about nursing homes with a high rate of turnover, not very many benefits, low pay, long work hours. So you know, think about the Puller Center when you're thinking about employment. It's my understanding that you need to get some private pay veterans in there first so that you can demonstrate the facility's ability to provide services to in-house residents so that you get these certifications from Medicare, medicaid and the VA. Is that correct?

John Wall:

That is correct. That is correct. Once we get our certification for Medicare, medicaid, we'll need another set of veterans in there. I believe it's up to 20 veterans at that time and everything. You know the way that we're supposed to and there's no dings or anything like that. And then then we'll be contracted through the VA.

Mary Tietjen:

Now that means that at that point we would be able to. The veterans will be eligible to either receive full, but they can't because you haven't gone through the procedural side of the house yet to get you and those folks in the beds.

John Wall:

So I have two phones and I think my work phone brings more than my personal phone and my family's always told me I'm always on the phone, so it's pretty miraculous. I get phone calls all the time from family members, whether it's son, daughter or spouse. Sometimes it's the veteran themselves that call. You know when are you guys going to be open? I'm ready, I need assistance or I'm coming out of the hospital. I just had a hip replacement, I need rehab, you know all of that, things of that nature, but they are ready to come. We have plenty that are ready to come and, you know, unfortunately I do get those phone calls and my husband just passed away, or my dad passed away, or my grandpa passed away, and those are really.

John Wall:

Those are the hard. Those are the hard phone calls because nobody. That's not what we want. If we could have had the doors open years ago, we surely would have. But it also has to be a safe place because we want to be able to provide the best care for the veterans.

Mary Tietjen:

And speaking of a safe, you know, good care for the veterans there, I believe I read something about creating little communities within a facility. Is that true?

John Wall:

So this facility is set up very differently from any other facility that I've ever been in. There's not a centralized cafeteria, for example. So there are two neighborhoods. Each neighborhood has eight households in them, and so each household will have 16 individual beds in there. Within that household. It's like a home that anybody would live in. They've got a kitchen in there, you know, dining area, a little family room area, book area, so it's all within that household. So it's very special, it's very intimate, it's very, you know the camaraderie that these veterans have with one another. It's amazing to see it and all the other in our sister facilities and I can't wait to see it in ours. But it is great how it is set up into different households where they can sit around and do a puzzle, they can watch a show together, share a meal together. It's wonderful.

Larry Zilliox:

So, to be clear though, it's sort of like a centralized community room, that kind of thing. But when you said 16 beds in there, those would be individual rooms with a bed off of this, not a dormitory style. Okay, I just wanted to make that clear because I know some of our listeners are going whoa, what you know okay, these rooms are great.

John Wall:

They're very spacious. Actually, there's a built-in. They have a desk, a TV area and their own bathroom and there's a bed in there and they also have a sitting chair in there as well.

Larry Zilliox:

Yeah, so they're in their room and then they come out into the community space where they can connect, and you know, I'm sure you're going to have all sorts of volunteer programs where people come in and do crafts with them and things like that. It just sounds amazing really. How is it divided up? I mean, you're going to have some permanent residents, nursing home residents. There will be temporary or like rehab rooms and then will there be a memory care unit, or is it just going to be regular nursing home?

John Wall:

So for starters it's going to be short-term rehab and long-term care. All beds will be dual certified, meaning some facilities are broken up where they might have 15 beds that are only for short-term rehab, the rest are for long-term care. With our facility, each bed will be dual, so you can have short-term rehab or long-term care in that room. For memory care, we will have the capability to help those veterans that do have some memory impairment when it comes to eloping or trying to escape. Those are the veterans that need to be in a locked unit. We will not be opening with that at this time. Our main goal is to get the doors open as quickly and safely as we can so that we can help all the veterans that are out there at this time that need us.

Larry Zilliox:

Is there a design element to it that will enable you to incorporate a memory care unit at a future date? Yes, okay.

John Wall:

Yes, and so basically a memory care unit is just a unit that has the ability to be locked down and there's some discrepancies with memory care unit. Just because you go into one doesn't mean you stay in there for forever. I mean you do age and the disease progresses. Unfortunately, there's only a one-way slope with it. At that time those veterans will be able to join everybody else and then that will free up a bed that you know a veteran needs that is eloping at that time. But so unfortunately we won't be opening with that. It takes a special certification. I think it has a certification, but it does take special staff to handle those types of residents and their care needs.

Mary Tietjen:

That's good. Make sure we protect you, know them and get the help they need eventually. What brings me to a thought? You know we talk a lot about the veteran and you know how they're going to be there and get the assistance for long-term, short-term, you know, and maybe for our listeners and even myself, what if I was a listener and I'm thinking like well, I have a dad or a mom, that, or an uncle or someone like that that needs to stay in this place. Where do I fit in as a family member? Are there certain hours? Is it open all the time? Can they stay on the facility? You know stuff like that.

John Wall:

So there is no room for anybody to stay. There's literally the 128 rooms for the veterans. But we welcome all family members, all visitors, all volunteers. I don't believe we've come up with a certain time frame of you know hours. I think it's open. I think the goal is to have it open whenever, but obviously be respectful of others that are going to be sleeping or trying to get ready in the morning and all that kind of stuff, even though they have their private room. But still, no, we welcome all visitors and all families.

Larry Zilliox:

Is there a process in place now for veterans or family members who think that a veteran and their family would be best served by this facility to sign up for it? Is there a webpage or is it too soon for that?

John Wall:

Not at all. I have people calling all the time and whether they need help now or in the future, we do have an ongoing wait list. I take very basic information and I will add them to the wait list. When we start making the phone calls to you know, when we're ready to rock and roll and start filling the beds, I will go down from the top down to make those phone calls. And you know there's probably going to be some that have not called in to inform us that they passed away. There's going to be others that you know decide to go live with their son or daughter in Florida and that's where they've relocated and that's fine. At that time we'll take them off the list. If we come down to somebody that's, you know, not ready yet, for whatever reason, they'll remain where they are and I'll just go to the next individual.

John Wall:

I do have a lot of veterans that call in and I ask them if they're service connected. Do you know if you have any benefits? And we can't help with that process, but I can guide them in that way. I started here in this position. I just hit my six months Since I've been in this position. I have met so many people out there willing to help. You know whether it's a benefits officer or whether it's, you know, somebody who deals with veterans and homelessness. So I have a lot of contacts and I don't like to just say, oh, google, this or Google, that I definitely guide them in that way to certain individuals where they'll be able to get the help that they need. So, whether I put them on the wait list or not, at least I can give them a little bit of hope of you know, go here, go there, and they can get that assistance.

Larry Zilliox:

Well, our listeners should know that the Virginia Department of Veterans Services can provide virtually every service that the VA provides absent benefits, financial benefits, so everything else that the VA provides its veterans. The Department of Veterans Services here in Virginia can provide those services, whether it's homelessness, job support, peer counseling, justice-involved veterans If you have a family member who has a veteran who's in jail or currently engaged with the justice system, there are justice-involved veteran service employees from DVS that can help. Employees from DVS that can help and I can't spring them from jail, but they can certainly help with managing their caseload and trying to help them when they eventually get out so that they can help and they're not repeat offenders. And you know a lot of the justice-involved veterans we have in the Commonwealth are there because of situations that they got themselves in, because of substance abuse. They're self-medicating, they're having problems and DVS can help with that. So all those resources that you get from the VA are available from the state as well, and of course, they can help veterans with claims.

Larry Zilliox:

In fact, my claim both my initial claim and a PAC Act claim that I had were both filed by DVS for me on my behalf, and so I'm very familiar with the services that they offer, and we've had a number of folks from DVS in different departments join us here for episodes, and we're very fortunate that they're open to sharing information about their services with us. What about volunteers? Are we at a point now where people can call up and say, I want to volunteer, or should they hold off until maybe there's a big announcement that they're going to open soon or something? What would make your job easier? I don't want to say, hey, volunteer, and then you're getting a million calls that you can't do anything with. So what's going to make your job easier?

John Wall:

Honestly. I have a spreadsheet that has my marketing leads and I have the waitlist and I have a huge spreadsheet with volunteers. So if you feel the need that you want to give back in any way, shape or form, give me a call, let me know and I'll definitely take your information down. We have not hired yet a director of life enrichment but at that time when we do, I am going to gladly give that huge list to that special him or her so I can lighten up my load a little bit, so I can focus on getting these veterans in.

Larry Zilliox:

Here you go, welcome, yeah. So if you honestly.

John Wall:

If you feel the need you know, just give me a call, we can talk about it. I can jot down your information and do know that if you do call and give your name and information, you know we do save it and you will be called and contacted. But also, if you want to follow up, just give a call.

Larry Zilliox:

What's the number they should call?

John Wall:

So the main number for Polar Veterans Care Center? It's on the website. Welcome to call that.

Larry Zilliox:

Okay.

John Wall:

It comes straight to my cell phone at this time. There's also an email pvccadmissionsdvs. Or at dvsvirginiaorg or gov. So definitely feel free to reach out at dvsvirginiaorg or gov. So definitely, you know, feel free to reach out at any time.

Larry Zilliox:

We'll have that information in the show notes for all of our listeners, and I know we're here at the Warrior Retreat.

Larry Zilliox:

We're very excited about partnering with you and one of the things we were just discussing the other day is that we recently had a luncheon for elderly veterans age 70 and older, and we focus on these elderly veterans who have mobility issues.

Larry Zilliox:

They don't get out much and we brought them here to give them a chance to connect with other veterans, to connect with veteran organizations that can help them with whether it's food, insecurity, nova vets we had a lot of folks here that could provide these veterans with services and we were just talking about. Hopefully we'll be able to get some of the Puller Center veterans over for lunch in the spring when we do the next one. We were very excited that we got 10 veterans elderly veterans from DC, and there's a program there where an entire apartment building has been converted into veteran housing and they were all formerly homeless and so that's one of the things we're looking forward to, so you can always find elderly veterans at a nursing home. So there's probably not going to be any shortage and maybe by the time you fill up, we'll have a couple of these events throughout the year, so we're very excited about that. We just don't have a date for opening yet, do we? Or?

Larry Zilliox:

a target anything.

John Wall:

Not yet, anywhere from three to eight months.

Larry Zilliox:

Okay, that's the easiest answer. So within the year 2025 is the year we are.

John Wall:

that is what we are pushing and pulling, that is the goal, that is their mission, that is our mission.

Mary Tietjen:

I like it. I do too Really looking forward to this. It'd be good to you know, go over to the Polar Center and help them out, or bring the veterans here and do something for them as well. I'm going to go over and pick out my room Kidding. Well, I think someone else would have something to say about that.

Larry Zilliox:

I think you're going to no no, She'll be ready to get rid of me, Trust me. Yes, no, that's not a problem. She'll help me pick out a room. Let me tell you so well as we sort of wrap this up here Mary, I can't thank you enough for joining us, but what's the one thing you want our listeners to know the most about the Polar Veterans Center?

John Wall:

one thing you want our listeners to know the most about the Puller Veterans Center. I want everybody to know that, even though it's taken a long time to get to even where we are today, you know we're doing everything in our power that we can to get the doors open safely, efficiently. We want to be the best care center around for our veterans. Um, everybody that, all of all of the team, everybody that's on the team right now, our hearts are so in it. We're in it to win it. We're ready to go.

Larry Zilliox:

Wow. Well, we wish you all the luck and if, certainly if there's anything that we can do and I'm sure there's not much we can do, but anything you can think of that we can do to help, we're there for you because this is going to be such an important addition to the community and the veteran community here and the community overall, because what we've found here is that having a place for people to volunteer to come and interact with veterans or at least provide a service that helps veterans is something that gives back to the community, and I can't wait for volunteers to get in there and experience how what they do has such an impact on others, especially the veterans who have given so much for our country. So we just really appreciate you coming.

John Wall:

Thank you, thank you for having me, thank you very much.

Mary Tietjen:

You're welcome. It's our honor to have you here, so appreciate you being here.

Larry Zilliox:

So, for our listeners, we'll have another episode next Monday morning at 0500. Those of you who'd like to get up early and listen to podcasts, you can find us on all the major podcast platforms. We're also on YouTube and Wreaths Across America Radio. So thanks for listening.

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