Here & Now

Examining Conditions Inside the Wisconsin Veterans Homes

Frederica Freyberg:

Nearly 75% of residents said they were never unhappy with care. This is according to the results of a new satisfaction survey released by the state Department of Veterans Affairs polling residents in the Wisconsin Veterans Homes at King and Union Grove. The overall positive survey results clash with other reports from residents, family, employees, and federal inspections citing these facilities for poor quality of care. Marisa Wojcik shares this story.

Kevin Martin:

In more than 20 years, I’ve never seen this many citations and this much in fines leveled against one nursing home in this state.

Marisa Wojcik:

The Wisconsin Veterans Homes at King and Union Grove have been making headlines for years with allegations of poor quality of care. As much as a quarter of a million dollars in fines from deficiencies have been cited in federal inspections. Now, a lawsuit holds Union Grove responsible for the death of resident Randy Kroll.

Kevin Martin:

The concerns were, to say the least, sad, as to what was happening there, the treatment that he was receiving and ultimately what happened to him because of the treatment that he received at Union Grove, and this all came to a head in late 2020, when he suffered from profound dehydration, when he started suffering from some bed sores and ultimately he needed to be hospitalized for those conditions and was never able to recover. The worst of these things happened after he was discharged from the hospital and returned to Union Grove. Randy only had a few days left to live because of his injuries and the day that Randy started showing changes that he was in the dying process, Union Grove staff was supposed to call his wife and let him know that Randy is experiencing these changes, he’s very close to death, so that she can go and be with him, be at his side and hold his hand. They never called and told her that. They didn’t call her until after he had died and they robbed her of the right to be at her husband’s side as he passed away.

Marisa Wojcik:

These events are supported in a federal inspection report, and documents showed more problems.

Kevin Martin:

Medication errors, water being left out of Randy’s reach, bed bugs that were found in the room, his call light going unanswered for more than 45 minutes, unfilled doctors’ orders for a Holter monitor to monitor his heart, for physical therapy, ants crawling around in his room, uncooked food, cold food, food that was…

Marisa Wojcik:

The Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs says they can’t comment on matters involving any specific individual due to HIPAA and other privacy laws.

Kevin Martin:

Injuries of unknown origin, including him having blood in his mouth and a chipped tooth and machines that were being used to help scan Randy’s bladder to see if he was having urinary retention, the wires to these machines were being held together by scotch tape.

Patrick Testin:

We have invited speakers here today…

Marisa Wojcik:

An April Senate Committee Hearing received testimony on the conditions of the Wisconsin Veterans Homes. Testimony painted a grim picture inside Union Grove and King, from conditions for staff…

Ellen Jante:

Some worked 16-hour shifts for three days in a row. We spoke with a nurse who had worked 32 days in a row.

Marisa Wojcik:

To the conditions for residents.

Laurie Miller:

He has wet himself in the bed several mornings in the past few years because no one comes to help when he puts his call button on. Now he says he doesn’t want to go outside because he knows he won’t want to go back in.

Marisa Wojcik:

And pointed to leadership as the problem.

Doug Womack:

Oversight and change of management coming out of Madison and at the local location, things started to deteriorate.

Marisa Wojcik:

But these ordeals are contrary to the results of a new satisfaction survey conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Results show residents at King and Union Grove rate the facilities care an average of 8.1 out of 10 and nearly 75% of respondents said they were “never unhappy with care.”

James Bond:

I wanted to hear firsthand from the members on the ground, the members and the staff in the facilities. And so that was a good start. And so I’m going to put together a workgroup that’s going to analyze the results, come up with some recommendations and that will help us, you know, put together a path for moving forward.

Marisa Wojcik:

WDVA Secretary-designee James Bond was appointed by Governor Tony Evers in January. He pushes back against claims saying the homes are in crisis.

James Bond:

Any kind of allegation with respect to our homes, those are things that we investigate, we follow up, we make sure that we correct whatever it is that needs to be corrected. I also want to say to those members that I want to hear directly from you. If you have concerns that you feel are not being addressed, you know, reach out to me.

Marisa Wojcik:

The department notes competition from private facilities, a declining veteran population, and staffing as key challenges.

Diane Lynch:

I happen to be involved with the board on long-term care in this state and we often talk about some of the exact same challenges that our state veterans homes have: staffing challenges. Some of them have things that happen that bring them a citation that’s horrible, but we’re human beings. But they’re not in the paper and they’re not sitting here today because they’re private sector, they don’t have the word “veteran” and it’s not newsworthy.

Kevin Martin:

So if their stressors are the same across the industry, why is Union Grove ranked in the bottom five in this country? That’s illogical.

Marisa Wojcik:

The state budget approved funding for a study into all three Wisconsin Veterans Homes.

James Bond:

And the purpose was is so that we can look at long-term planning of our facilities, look at the future of how those facilities might look and look at our current operations.

Marisa Wojcik:

Senate committee members are hoping more can be done.

Patrick Testin:

And I would hope that one of the biggest takeaways in all of this is that I think every member on the committee is all in agreement that we want an audit. I think that gives us an opportunity, if we go through the audit committee, to find long-term solutions. But in the meantime, there are clearly issues that need to be addressed that we can address here in the short-term.

James Bond:

If the legislature decides that they want to have an audit so they can take a better look at our operations, our financial situation, and offer, you know, suggestions on how we might be able to improve, I think that would be a good thing. But as I mentioned, I have nothing to hide and I welcome an audit.

Marisa Wojcik:

For “Here & Now,” I’m Marisa Wojcik.