Barbara Grossman calls the Colorado Veterans Community Living Center in Rifle the “best-kept secret on the Western Slope.”

As the center's licensed nursing home administrator, Grossman has worked tirelessly with her staff in the last four years to make it so.

“Who wants to go to a nursing home?” Grossman asked. “It’s the last stop, but we do it the best.”

Colorado Veterans Community Living Center, which is managed and operated by the state of Colorado, strives to provide loving care and compassion to aging veterans. The center has a greater number of registered nurses per resident than the average, and consistently receives higher satisfaction ratings from family members.

In addition to Grossman’s well-trained staff, who are committed to helping veterans, veterans' spouses and Gold Star parents—parents who’ve lost a child in the line of duty—the center’s location atop a hill in Rifle gives it an outdoor serenity and ambiance appealing to residents as well.

Inside the center’s walls, residents find a 24/7 skilled-nursing facility with 89 beds and semi-private rooms. Roommates share a bathroom but a wall creates some personal space.

Like many skilled nursing facilities, the center specializes in long-term care, short-term respite or rehabilitation stays and hospice care. Additionally, there is an 18-bed secured dementia/memory care unit.

What makes the Rifle center unique, however, are the residents.

“Regardless of cognition, the person’s [military] service connection is what they remember most,” Grossman said. “They may have forgotten who you are but they remember every service connection. They can tell you stories and don’t miss a beat. When you leave military or law enforcement you leave those ties, and when they come to our facility that camaraderie comes back again.”

Nurses and staff make sure to give meaningful care and respect to all the veteran residents.

“In our facility, they talk about their stories over and over again. We make it okay. That’s what makes my staff unique. They accommodate that need to listen to those stories,” Grossman said.

Of course, with that camaraderie also comes the same competitiveness associated with the various military branches.

“It can get heated,” Grossman said with a straight face. “You do not interrupt Bingo or poker.”

On top of in-facility card games or board games, residents can enjoy scheduled outings, scenic drives, outdoor flower gardens and exercise space.

The center accepts Medicaid, Medicare and private pay. Veterans deemed 70 to 100 percent service-connected disabled can have fees paid in full by Veterans Administration benefits.

To learn more about the center, call 970-625-0842 or visit 851 E. Fifth St. in Rifle.