Fisher House looking to build military lodging near future Eglin hospital

     EGLIN AFB — Fisher House is hoping to build one of its trademark military family lodging homes sometime in 2008 near the expanded Eglin Hospital and an under-construction Department of Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic.
     
“We have recognized the need and, when we get closer in, we’ll enter serious consultation,” said Fisher House spokesman Jim Weiskopf. “We don’t want to build a house that’s too small and we don’t want to build a house that’s too large.”
     
Eglin was recommended as a site by the Air Force Surgeon General office. A fund-raising drive is in the works to collect an estimated $1.2 million needed locally to build the facility.
     
Fisher House homes are used to provide families of servicemen receiving medical care comfortable, no-charge places to live temporarily.
     
There’s always an effort to build the bucolic homes among trees near hospitals or clinics, so spouses and children can walk to visit loved ones.
     
Weiskopf added the foundation likes communities to raise about half the money to build a Fisher House home.
     
Already, locals have started fund raising for the facility. Even the Army is getting into the act.
     
The 6th Ranger Training Battalion is hosting its inaugural 5- and 10-kilometer Swamp Ranger Run at Camp James E. Rudder on May 6. The trail run coincides with the camp’s open house.
     
Proceeds from the run will be given to the local Fisher House campaign.
     
The 96th Air Base Wing is firmly behind the idea of an Eglin Fisher House.

The idea for the facility has been around for some time, but it wasn’t until October that planning shifted into higher gear.
     
“It’s been about a 24-month effort, looking at our workload, looking at our projected workload,” said 96th Medical Group administrator Col. Robert Rennie.
     
Among the critical factors is the expectation that Pentagon and VA medical facilities will offer more joint services.
     
Rennie also mentioned both Eglin’s and the area’s veteran populations are likely to grow, which would lead to increased demand for medical care.
     
Rennie figured Eglin’s Fisher House would be on the smaller side. Fisher Houses range from eight to 21 suites accommodating 16 to 42 people.
     
They feature large common living areas, which include a laundry, that are used by all the people staying there.
     
Rennie said it’ll take about $2 million to build a residence and get it ready for occupancy.
     
Bob Lynn, secretary treasurer of Okaloosa County Veterans Memorial Inc., is already heavily involved in raising money for Eglin’s Fisher House.
     
He said the mechanism for donating is still being worked out, but donations will be tax-deductible.
     
Lynn added $800,000 from the foundation have been set aside to build the Eglin Fisher House, which means more than $1 million would have to be raised locally.
     
“It’s not too early, no sir,” he said about starting the fund-raising drive. “We have plenty of time in a way but we can’t procrastinate … We have to get the $1.2 million before the end of next year.”
     
Well-suited for, and well-practiced in, raising money, Lynn said he won’t hesitate in asking for donations, particularly from individuals or groups who’ve helped worthy causes in the past.
     
“They can expect to see Bob with his hand out,” he said.

Daily News Staff Writer Mladen Rudman can be reached at 863-1111, Ext. 443