Virtually all folks dealing with people with disabilities here are political
hacks with no experience. Just like our wonderful so-called State ADA
Compliance officer, Sharon Ellis who is not disabled and has violated the ADA
over and over again including her role in the State Capitol fiasco. She was
simply Snyder’s campaign manager.
Joe
Audit spurs shake-up at Michigan veterans agency Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press
Lansing Bureau LANSING The state announced personnel changes at the Michigan
Veterans Affairs Agency Friday after a scathing audit, with Jeff Barnes, a
former campaign manager to Gov. Rick Snyder, removed as director of the Michigan
Veteran Affairs Agency. A highly critical state audit , released Friday, cited
staffing shortages and mishandling of abuse complaints at the Grand Rapids
Home for Veterans. Snyder said in a news release the audit findings are "deeply
troubling" and that veterans deserve the best care that the state can provide.
Snyder said he asked for and accepted the resignation of Barnes, who headed the
Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency, which oversees the Michigan Veteran Health
System that supervises the home. James Robert Redford of East Grand Rapids,
chief legal counsel to the Governor, has been named interim director. Barnes
will be reassigned under Major General Gregory J. Vadnais, adjutant general and
director of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, which oversees
the veterans agency, Snyder said. "Jeff is passionate about helping his fellow
veterans," Snyder said. "I know he is as troubled by these findings as I
am. A new leadership team is in place, which I am relying on to address the
audit. The report said the contractor the state hired to provide nursing aides
starting in 2013, J2S Group, did not meet staffing requirements 81% of the time
during four sampled months. Staffing provided by the contractor was as
much as 22 staff members short on a single day, the report said. Though the
home required a daily average of 125.9 staff members, the contractor provided
an average of 121.3 staff members, the auditor's report said.Residents at the
Grand Rapids Home for Veterans and their families deserve higher standards
of care, Gov. Rick Snyder said today, and changes are being made to address
concerns released in a report today by The Office of the Auditor General. The
audit focused on medical administration, member care documentation, handling of
complaints and financial management. It also addressed ongoing staffing
shortages and non-narcotic pharmaceutical controls. "I want to assure families
that their veterans are getting improved quality of care. We have made major
changes since October, including replacing top leadership who were not doing
their jobs properly," Vadnais said in the release. "I apologize to any veterans
that their quality of care was below standard. These findings are unacceptable,
and we're committed to fixing the problems highlighted in the report. Vadnais
said the new leadership has already started making changes to improve the
home's care and financial practices. The audit measured the performance of the
Grand Rapids Home for Veterans from Oct.1, 2013 through August 31, 2015.
Auditors looked at surveillance video to show that only 47% of required room
checks
and 33% of fall-alarm checks were done, even though the home produced
documentation that the checks occurred. The audit found that of 91 resident
complaints
received over 23 months, 38 of those related to alleged abuse or neglect. The
auditor examined 10 of those abuse and neglect complaints and found that
nine were not forwarded to the nursing director for investigation, as required.
The release said the agency has worked with J2S to resolve the staffing
issues. But the Michigan AFL-CIO issued a statement Friday that said the
problems show the privatization effort was a failure. "The tragic lesson from
this failed experiment is that privatization simply doesn't work," said Ron
Bieber, president of the Michigan AFL-CIO. "It is now painfully clear that
the 2011 budget passed by Lansing Republicans, which included the privatization
of the Home for Veterans, was a terrible mistake. "According to the auditor's
report, the facility was chronically understaffed, employees routinely failed
to respond to alarm checks, and the for-profit management company failed
to investigate complaints of abuse and neglect," Bieber said. "That's
outrageous and unacceptable. "No one should have to endure such horrible living
conditions,
especially not our military veterans. The state needs to stop shortchanging
these brave men and women, and take immediate action by terminating its contract
with J2S, which has proven to be totally inadequate and incompetent. Our
veterans deserve nothing less. Barnes served nearly 10 years as an Armored
Cavalry
Officer in the U.S. Army, including tours in Korea and the Balkans, and two
tours in Iraq. He was Snyder's campaign manager in 2010. Redford served 28
years in the U.S. Navy and retired as a Captain in 2012. He was a military
trial judge for five years in the U.S. Navy Reserves and had three tours as
a commanding officer, of the Navy Reserve Trial Judiciary, the Reserve Navy
Legal Service Office and the civil litigation unit in Washington, D.C. Contact
Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@xxxxxxxxxxxxx. Follow him on Twitter
@paulegan4.
