If your dad needs nursing care he can't get at home anymore, Oklahoma's seven state-run veterans homes are built for exactly that, and one phone number reaches the admissions team for all of them. The Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs (ODVA) runs Oklahoma Veterans Homes in Ardmore, Claremore, Clinton, Lawton, Norman, Sallisaw and Sulphur, and a wartime veteran can't be turned away from one because the family can't pay.

In This Guide

What an Oklahoma Veterans Home Is

A State Veterans Home is owned and run by a state government, not by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, though VA must recognize and certify each State Veterans Home and surveys it every year. Each state sets its own eligibility and admission rules.

In Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs runs the Oklahoma Veterans Home system, which ODVA says is federally approved by VA and licensed by the Oklahoma State Department of Health. Oklahoma law, 72 O.S. § 223, requires every Oklahoma veterans nursing facility to take part in VA's State Veterans Home per diem program, and 72 O.S. § 225 gives the Oklahoma Veterans Commission the power to rule on who is eligible and what admission requires.

In practice an Oklahoma Veterans Home is a nursing home: ODVA admits a veteran who needs intermediate or skilled nursing care. Our national guide to State Veterans Homes shows how the program works in every state.

The Seven Oklahoma Veterans Homes

Pick the home your family can actually visit, then check whether it is taking new residents. ODVA's veterans-homes page listed each home's admission status as follows on September 3, 2026, and ODVA's own page is the place to recheck, because the statuses change from month to month.

Oklahoma Veterans Home Size, as ODVA states it Dementia care ODVA admission status
Ardmore 175 nursing care beds Not listed on its page Admissions available
Claremore (near Tulsa) 302 beds 52-bed Alzheimer's/dementia unit Admissions available
Clinton 148 nursing care beds 50 beds for Alzheimer's and other dementias Admissions available
Lawton/Fort Sill 200 beds Accepts Alzheimer's/dementia residents Admissions available
Norman About 301 residents on average Unit for up to 50 Alzheimer's and dementia residents Memory care only
Sallisaw 175 beds No memory care admissions Admissions available (no memory care)
Sulphur 122 nursing care beds Not listed on its page Admissions available

Sources for the table: the size and dementia-care columns come from each home's own ODVA page; Sallisaw's bed count and every admission status come from ODVA's veterans-homes page and Sallisaw page.

Three details matter when you choose. As of September 3, 2026, the Norman Veterans Home was taking memory care admissions only, so a veteran without dementia should look at another home. The Sallisaw Veterans Home is the newest, passed its federal recognition survey in 2026, and takes veterans from any state, including Arkansas, without requiring Oklahoma residency. The Clinton Veterans Home provides rides to appointments at the VA Medical Center in Oklahoma City.

Can Your Parent Get Into an Oklahoma Veterans Home?

ODVA's eligibility page starts from VA: an eligible Oklahoma veteran is one whom VA certifies for its State Veterans Home per diem payment. ODVA then lists these requirements for an Oklahoma Veterans Home:

  • Service: at least 90 days of service with one or more days on active duty, unless the veteran was discharged because of a service-connected disability (under conditions other than dishonorable).
  • Need: the veteran is disabled by age, disease or another reason under 38 CFR 17.46.
  • Level of care: the veteran needs intermediate or skilled nursing care.

Wartime service is not required to apply to an Oklahoma Veterans Home. ODVA's list includes "all other eligible Veterans," including those with no wartime service; they simply come later on the waiting list.

Your mom may be able to come too. Oklahoma law, 72 O.S. § 63.5, authorizes spouses, widows and widowers of eligible war veterans to be admitted to Oklahoma's State Veterans Homes, and ODVA says spouses and surviving spouses may be admitted once every eligible veteran has been placed.

On residency, the Sallisaw Veterans Home is the one Oklahoma Veterans Home whose ODVA page we rely on says an out-of-state veteran is welcome. If your parent lives outside Oklahoma and you want a different home, ask ODVA's admissions office before you apply.

Where Your Parent Lands on the Waiting List

Knowing where your parent stands on ODVA's waiting list helps you plan how long to keep other care going. ODVA fills Oklahoma Veterans Home beds in this order, and ODVA's rules place World War II veterans and former prisoners of war in the first available bed that offers the level of care they need:

1
Step 1

World War II veterans

, then veterans of the next oldest wartime period when no World War II veterans remain.

2
Step 2

Former prisoners of war

3
Step 3

Other wartime veterans

, by the date ODVA receives the application: first those VA rates 70% to 100% service-connected, then those rated 0% to 60%, then all other eligible wartime veterans.

4
Step 4

All other eligible veterans

, including those with no wartime service, in the same order: 70% to 100%, then 0% to 60%, then everyone else.

5
Step 5

Spouses and surviving spouses

, once all eligible veterans are placed.

For this list, ODVA counts as wartime World War II (12/07/1941 to 12/31/1946), the Korean War (06/27/1950 to 01/31/1955), the Vietnam War (08/05/1964 to 05/07/1975, or from 02/28/1961 for service in country), the Persian Gulf War (08/02/1990 to a date not yet set), and any other dates Congress, the Oklahoma Legislature or the Oklahoma Veterans Commission sets.

The order isn't rigid. ODVA says an Oklahoma Veterans Home administrator can depart from the waiting list for medical or humanitarian need, and when two applications arrive the same day, the Medical Director orders them by medical need. None of our sources publishes a wait time, so ask admissions where your parent stands.

What an Oklahoma Veterans Home Costs

This is the part families dread, and Oklahoma's law builds real protections into it. Oklahoma law, 72 O.S. § 63.5, lets the Oklahoma Veterans Commission collect a care-and-maintenance charge from residents of Oklahoma Veterans Homes, and sets four limits on it:

  • What counts: all of the veteran's personal income except a working spouse's wages, including VA pension and Aid and Attendance.
  • What the veteran keeps: the charge must leave the veteran not less than $150 a month of total monthly income.
  • Protecting VA money: the charge must be figured in a way that maximizes the VA pension and compensation the veteran is entitled to.
  • A ceiling: the charge can't exceed the full cost of care minus VA's per diem payment.

That per diem is real money. Under VA's State Veterans Home per diem, VA pays the state for each eligible veteran at the lesser of half the daily cost of care or the basic per diem rate VA sets each fiscal year, and federal law caps it at half the cost of that veteran's care. None of the ODVA pages we rely on publishes a daily rate, so ask admissions what your parent's charge would be.

Two more parts of 72 O.S. § 63.5 belong in every family's plan.

  • No wartime veteran is turned away for money. Under 72 O.S. § 63.5, admission of a veteran of a period of war to an Oklahoma State Veterans Home can't be limited or conditioned on the ability to pay of the veteran, the estate or any relative.
  • The state can collect from the estate. Under 72 O.S. § 63.5, an unpaid Oklahoma Veterans Home care charge is a valid debt against the veteran and the veteran's estate, isn't barred by any statute of limitations (except as the Oklahoma Indigent Health Care Act allows), and is paid at death like any other lawful claim against the estate.

If Mom lives there too, 72 O.S. § 63.5 has an Oklahoma Veterans Home collect a spouse's, widow's or widower's charge first, and as fully as possible, from income other than VA pension and compensation. VA won't pay toward her care, because VA does not pay a State Veterans Home for the care of non-veterans.

If your parent already gets Aid and Attendance, our guide to Aid and Attendance for a nursing home in Oklahoma explains how that benefit works once a veteran moves into nursing care.

When VA Pays the Whole Nursing Home Bill

For some veterans, the nursing care bill at a State Veterans Home can be zero. Under 38 U.S.C. 1745 and 38 CFR 51.41, VA's payment to a State Veterans Home under a State home care agreement is payment in full for the nursing home care of a veteran who needs that care for a service-connected disability, a veteran rated 70% or more service-connected who needs nursing home care, or a veteran with a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) who needs nursing home care, and the home may not charge the veteran, an insurer or anyone else but VA for that care.

ODVA's eligibility page puts Oklahoma's own version in one line: since June 1, 2009, veterans 70% or more service-connected receive the full cost of care at any Oklahoma Veterans Center. Because ODVA admits veterans who need intermediate or skilled nursing care, that is nursing home care. A 70% rating also moves your parent up ODVA's waiting list within his or her group.

If a VA claim is pending, keep pushing it. Under 38 CFR 51.41, when VA grants a retroactive service-connected rating that brings a veteran under the payment-in-full rule, the State Veterans Home can ask VA for payment back to the rating's effective date or February 2, 2013, whichever is later. For help with a claim, see our guide to VA benefits for senior care in Oklahoma.

How to Apply to an Oklahoma Veterans Home

ODVA runs admissions for all seven Oklahoma Veterans Homes from one office, so start there.,

1
Step 1

Call or send ODVA's online form

Call ODVA admissions at 405-523-4092, or fill in ODVA's request information form; a Patient Services Coordinator from the home you pick will contact you.,

2
Step 2

Pick one home or any home

The form lets you choose specific Oklahoma Veterans Homes or "First Available at Any Home," and asks how soon the veteran needs placement.

3
Step 3

Complete the application

ODVA requires a Veterans Center Application Form for admission to an Oklahoma Veterans Home.

4
Step 4

Send proof of service and rating

ODVA accepts a verified M11 record from VA or a copy of the DD-214 (or other VA papers, which could include a DD-215), proof of prisoner-of-war status if it applies, and the VA disability rating.

If your family could manage more than one Oklahoma Veterans Home, list every one of them on ODVA's form, so the first bed offered is one the veteran can accept.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if we turn down the first Oklahoma Veterans Home bed we're offered?

ODVA's procedures say a veteran who refuses the first available bed goes to the bottom of the list for that category. Settle which homes you'll accept before the call comes.

Can my parent move to a different Oklahoma Veterans Home later?

Yes, but it means waiting again. ODVA puts a resident who asks to transfer on the receiving home's waiting list, in the right category, by the date of the request.

Does an Oklahoma Veterans Home take Medicare or Medicaid?

Oklahoma law, 72 O.S. § 63.5a, authorizes ODVA to seek certification through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and to accept Medicare and Medicaid payments, but that's an authorization, and our sources don't say which homes are certified. Ask the admissions office about the home you want.

Is Oklahoma Veterans Home care only for men?

No. ODVA says the Ardmore Veterans Home cares for male and female veterans, and the Norman Veterans Home serves both male and female Oklahoma veterans.

Learn More

VA BenefitsState Veterans Homes: Who Gets In, What It Costs, and How to ApplyState veterans homes are state-run, VA-certified care homes. See who gets in, how VA per diem and the 70% rating rule shape the cost, and find your state. VA BenefitsVA Benefits You Can Use for Senior Care in OklahomaA guide to VA senior care benefits in Oklahoma: home care, nursing homes, Aid and Attendance, Oklahoma Veterans Centers, and how to access them in 2026. VA BenefitsHow VA Aid and Attendance Helps Pay for a Nursing Home in OklahomaHow VA Aid and Attendance helps pay for an Oklahoma nursing home: 2026 pension rates, who qualifies, the $90 Medicaid cap, and how to apply with free help. VA BenefitsHow VA Aid and Attendance Helps Pay for Memory Care in OklahomaHow VA Aid and Attendance helps pay for memory care in Oklahoma: 2026 monthly rates, why dementia often qualifies, the medical-expense rule, and how to apply. Care TypesNursing Homes in OklahomaNursing homes in Oklahoma in 2026: a semi-private room runs about $84,315 a year, below the national median. How to check a facility and how Medicaid pays.

Find personalized help choosing and applying to an Oklahoma Veterans Home at brevy.com.

The information on Brevy.com is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal, financial, or medical advice. Rules vary by state and program and change frequently. Always verify with the relevant agency or a qualified professional. Brevy is not a law firm, financial advisor, or healthcare provider.

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