The Oregon Veterans’ Home of Lebanon, also known as the Edward C. Allworth Veterans Home, celebrated its 10th anniversary on Friday, Sept. 20, with civic leaders, key administrators, volunteers, supporters, staff and the Road Maggots motorcycle club in attendance.
Special exhibits included various military uniforms, a slide show, the “I Am Not Invisible” portrait collection of Oregon women military veterans from ODVA, and the Oregon Memorial Traveling Wall.
The wall, a project from the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 805 in Roseburg and Umpqua Valley, displays the names of Oregonians who lost their lives in the Vietnam and recent U.S. conflicts. Sweet Home Vietnam veterans on the wall include SP4 John William Carper Jr., SP4 Harley Daniel Dimick, Sgt. Kenneth Charles Hurse, Sgt. Ted Quinton Reed Jr., SSG Dale Ray Richter and LCPL Fred Joseph Williams Jr.
During the event, the Sweet Home Elks Club was among other volunteers who were honored for their service and support to the Veterans’ Home. The Dominy family’s Praise in 3-D a cappella group opened the ceremony with “The Star-Spangled Banner” and closed it with “America, The Beautiful.”
Kelly Odegaard, VP of Operations and Veterans’ Services for Westcare Management, and former administrator of the Veterans’ Home, expressed appreciation for all those who made the home a reality, with particular attention to voters.
“You voted a property measure to help pay for the 35% to build this home,” he said. “That doesn’t happen everywhere in the country. It happened in Linn County. You should be very, very proud of yourself.”
The Veterans’ Home in Lebanon is one of the few house models of state veterans homes in the country. It is a small home model that houses 154 veterans and spouses in 11 homes that each contain 14 private rooms. According to Odegaard, he overheard the VA head architect declare it is his favorite design.
Odegaard pointed out there are no large medication carts in the hallways or nurse’s stations at this nursing facility, and it is one of the only few skilled nursing facilities that has completely private rooms and bathrooms.
“This is very rare in skilled nursing facilities,” he said. “Private rooms and bathrooms make all the difference in the world by supporting privacy and self-determination in an environment as close to home as we can make it while still meeting very stringent regulations.”
Odegaard was the home’s first administrator, setting the standard for the first six years before moving toward his current position at Westcare.
“It has been a wonderful journey that I can easily declare has been the pinnacle of my career,” he said.
Former President and CEO of Samaritan Health Services Larry Mullins, an instrumental player in wooing the home’s location to Lebanon, declared the facility “a remarkable work by the community” where more than 7,000 veterans have received care in the past 10 years, some of whom hailed from Sweet Home.
He recognized the message county residents shouted when they “overwhelmingly” passed a levy for the $30 million facility in 2010, showing that veterans are important and valued by the community.
Odegaard’s predecessor, David Pettijohn, honored the former administrator with a Guiding Light award.
“When you say ‘Oregon Veterans Home,’ you have to think ‘Mr. Kelly Odegaard,’” Pettijohn said. “His love and passion for the veterans and the work we do is evident. “
He continued on about Odegaard’s advocacy and voice on behalf of the veterans they serve, about his willingness to find solutions in the face of challenges, and his reach into small organizations as well as state legislature.
“The building stands as a hallmark of his service, though through his six years here as the administrator and CEO he set the bar and he set it very high,” Pettijohn said. “Kelly ensured the veterans-centered philosophy and home model was and is a core pillar of our work each day, keeping veterans first in mind.”
As one who forged the way for those who would come after him, Odegaard left a deep impression on the staff, creating a “model of dedicated service and persistent leadership” that they are thankful for, Pettijohn said.
“When he handed me the reigns about two years ago, he told me with a very serious expression, ‘This is my baby. Don’t drop the baby,’” Pettijohn said, ending with a statement directly to Odegaard, “Your baby is safe with us.”
