Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §1831, sub-§1, ¶D is enacted to read:

D.__As part of the admission process, the hospital or nursing facility shall identify all patients or residents who have served at least 180 days on active duty in the United States Armed Forces and inform such patients or residents prior to discharge of the availability and locations statewide of Maine Veterans' Homes facilities and services.__The facilities and services of the Maine Veterans' Homes and of all other entities identified by the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management, Bureau of Veterans' Services as providing health care services to veterans in Maine must be included on all lists of licensed providers provided to patients and residents pursuant to this subsection by hospitals and nursing facilities.

Sec. 2. 37-B MRSA §601, as amended by PL 1997, c. 395, Pt. P, §1, is further amended to read:

§601. Home established; purpose

There must be public homes for veterans in Maine known as "Maine Veterans' Homes." In addition to the existing 120-bed home located in Augusta, a 120-bed home located in Scarborough, a home not to exceed 40 beds located in Caribou, a home located in Bangor not to exceed 120 beds, of which 40 beds are dedicated to senile dementia patients, and a home located in South Paris not to exceed 90 beds, of which 30 beds are dedicated to senile dementia patients, may be constructed if federal Veterans' Administration funds are available to meet part of the costs of each facility for construction or operation. In addition, a home located in Machias not to exceed 60 beds may be constructed if federal Veterans' Administration funds or funds from any other state, federal or private source are available to meet part of the costs of the facility for construction or operation, except that the Machias home may not begin operation prior to July 1, 1995 and the construction and funding of the Machias home may not in any way jeopardize the construction, funding or financial viability of any other home. The Maine Veterans' Homes also are authorized to provide nonnursing facility care and services to Maine veterans if approved by appropriate state and federal authorities. The Board of Trustees of the Maine Veterans' Homes shall plan and develop the Machias home and any nonnursing facility care and services using any funds available for that purpose, except for the Augusta facility's funded depreciation account. Any funds loaned to the Maine Veterans' Homes for operating purposes from the funded depreciation accounts of the Maine Veterans' Homes must be reimbursed from any funds received by the Maine Veterans' Homes and available for that purpose. The