Veterans

Federal lawmakers from both political parties have asked for an investigation and more oversight of the troubled state veterans home in Union Grove and a state senator is calling for a hearing on the facility.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, whose administration oversees the nursing home, said in an interview Thursday he welcomes additional oversight and will cooperate with any federal investigation.

"If you get fined, it is because you've done something wrong. And in this case, we have been unable to fulfill our duties to these great veterans, by having adequate staff and adequately trained staff," he said.

"We have to do a better job. Obviously, we're concerned. Our veterans served our country with great honor and dignity, and they deserve that."

The calls for more oversight and accountability come in the wake of a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation last week that revealed a pattern of violations at the Union Grove veterans home reaching back five years.

Union Grove ranked in the top five out of 117 federally certified state veterans facilities for having the most violations and fines, the Journal Sentinel found.

The Union Grove facility, one of three veterans homes in the state, was cited for 62 violations and received fines totaling $250,000 since 2017, records show. Federal regulators are still reviewing the latest five violations from March and considering a possible additional fine.

The violations include medication mistakes, failing to keep patients hydrated, not investigating patient abuse, infection control, poor food and filthy conditions. Residents and family members said care has steadily declined as leadership frequently changed and the home struggles with chronic understaffing.

Union Grove and other veterans homes like it are run by states, but they are funded with federal dollars.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., separately sent letters to Denis McDonough, secretary of Veterans Affairs. Steil also included Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, administrator of the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services.

In a statement Thursday, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said the findings of poor care and abuse at Union Grove "must be fully investigated."

In her letter, Baldwin asked the VA to review conditions at Union Grove and identify ways the facility could be better held accountable. She noted the state has been trying to improve recruitment and retention of staff since 2019.

"Despite these efforts, complaints regarding treatment of residents highlight the need for additional oversight and inspections by the VA," Baldwin wrote.

Steil, whose district includes the Union Grove facility, said he wrote the letter to make sure officials in Washington know about these problems and seek solutions.

"My work is to now get the eyes and ears and the attention of decision-makers in Washington so that we can hold folks accountable. But also and equally importantly, make sure that a situation like this never happens again, anywhere in the United States," Steil said.

State Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, is calling for hearings on issues highlighted in the Journal Sentinel investigation. He also plans to seek a state investigation or audit into the home.

"We have got to get this moving forward as quickly as we can because there is no excuse for this," Wanggaard said in an interview.

State Sen. Eric Wimberger, R-Green Bay, chairman of the Committee on Veterans and Military Affairs and Constitution and Federalism, where a hearing would be held, called the Journal Sentinel investigation "beyond troubling."

"We are getting a full accounting of the facts and will use all levers of the state to make sure this nightmare is over for our vets and that the promise made to these heroes is restored," he said in a statement.

Wanggaard and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, whose districts include the home, toured the facility in early May and heard from residents about poor care and short-staffing.

They have pressed Mary Kolar, secretary of the state Department of Veterans Affairs, which operates the veterans homes, to allow more volunteers back in the facility as COVID has eased, which could help with the staff shortages.

Laurie Miller, who has volunteered at the home for more than five years, said there are good staff members at Union now; there just aren't enough of them.

"They are not the problem — the administration is," she said.

Evers backed Kolar, whom he appointed in 2019, saying she is doing "as good a job as possible." He said he hoped a new commandant, who is in charge of the facility, will be in place soon in Union Grove and the state will continue to push to increase hiring with bonuses and advertising.

"This is an urgent issue that everybody should care about," he said. "We need to solve it. It started several years ago, even before my time, but that doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if it started 100 years ago. We have to change it today. And that's where we're headed."

U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil is seeking federal action on reports of mistreatment of veterans at a state-run facility, following several efforts by constituents to call attention to the issue going back at least several months.

Steil, a Republican from Janesville, announced Wednesday he is asking federal authorities to review allegations of abuse and neglect of veterans living at the Wisconsin Veterans Home at Union Grove.

The congressman, whose district includes the Town of Dover facility, released a letter he wrote to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Urging “all appropriate action” from the federal authorities, Steil wrote: “This kind of treatment of our veterans is unacceptable. Our veterans deserve the highest quality of care, and this level of mistreatment cannot be tolerated.”

Read the congressman's letter here.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported last week that staff at the Racine County veterans home has been accused of physical abuse, medication errors, unsanitary conditions, poor quality food and other forms of maltreatment toward veterans.

The newspaper cited 62 operating violations found in the Union Grove home in the past five years, and said that ranks among the five worst offenders out of 117 federally certified veteran facilities in the nation.

The violations inside the state-run home date back to the administration of Republican Gov. Scott Walker and have continued since Democratic Gov. Tony Evers took office in 2019.

The veterans home named for Union Grove is located at 21425 Spring Street in the Town of Dover, just west of the Village of Union Grove.

It was not immediately clear what role the federal government could play in responding to conditions inside the facility.

Colleen Flaherty, a spokeswoman for the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs, said officials at the state agency had no immediate comment on Steil’s request for a federal review.

“We would like some clarity,” she said.

The Milwaukee newspaper’s investigation was based largely on reports from residents inside the veterans home, as well as past residents and family members of veterans.

Steil, who was elected in 2018 in Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District, told the newspaper he, too, had been receiving reports of problems at the home for years. The 1st Congressional District includes all of Racine and Kenosha counties, and stretches west to Steil’s home in Janesville.

Asked by The Journal Times to elaborate, Steil said in an email last week that many relatives and friends of veterans living in the facility had approached the congressman with concerns about “staffing levels and quality of care at the facility.”

He said he alerted the state veterans affairs office in instances when he had consent from the person making the complaint.

The congressman has separately expressed concerns about how the Wisconsin Veterans Home was handling COVID-19 pandemic safety protocols; at least 10 residents died after contracting COVID in the home. But he said he also had taken action to alert the state to complaints about the sort of issues raised later in the Milwaukee newspaper.

“In the last several years, numerous relatives and friends who have loved ones at the state-run Union Grove Veterans Home have reached out to me with concerns about staffing levels and quality of care at the facility,” he wrote. “In the cases that my office received consent from the veteran’s family, my office reached out to the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs.”

Steil spokeswoman Grace White said the congressman would not provide copies of any such correspondence, citing privacy rights for those making complaints.

State veterans affairs officials, however, released copies of five letters received from Steil or his staff dating back to November 2020. The names of those registering complaints with the congressman were redacted.

In the first letter, Steil relayed concerns about staffing to manage COVID-19 risks. Along with other Republicans, Steil has made an issue of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ response to COVID safety inside the veterans home, alleging that Evers did not accept federal assistance fast enough or keep National Guard troops on site long enough.

In subsequent letters to the state, Steil or his staff forwarded constituent complaints — some about COVID-19, and others about more general issues of care for veterans.

In January 2021, the congressman received a complaint from a woman who wrote that COVID was aggravating a staffing shortage, and that her father was getting cold food, was left in bed for extended periods, was left sitting in a wheelchair with no pants on. She also noted that visitation was being restricted because of COVID-19.

“I don’t want my Dad to die alone,” she wrote. “I want my Dad to survive this pandemic, and that means assuring that there is consistent professional staffing and level of care. Neither is a reality today.”

In December 2021, Steil staff member Ryan Vishaway wrote the state about a woman whose husband had died while living in the Dover veterans home.

“She would like to advocate for better staffing and investigation into medical care, and living conditions for residents,” Vishaway wrote.

Records show that the state in each instance responded to the congressman — or directly to the person making the complaint — and offered assurances that efforts were underway to improve conditions at the veterans home.

Steil wrote to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in September 2020 to express concerns about staffing levels inside the veterans home to combat COVID-19.

Asked why the congressman did not seek federal action on other quality-of-care issues until after the Milwaukee newspaper investigation, White noted that Steil reached out to state officials several times. She added: “I will also note — while the facility receives federal funding — it is state-run.”

Read the congressman's letter from 2020 here.

In his letter Wednesday to federal authorities, Steil again mentioned his past inquiries regarding COVID-19 protocols.

“The quality of care at this facility has long been a concern of mine and of the people of Wisconsin’s First Congressional District,” he wrote. “For additional background, back in 2020, I made multiple inquiries highlighting issues the Union Grove home was facing regarding cases and deaths of veterans infected with COVID-19.”

He concluded: “It is now abundantly clear that the veterans home in Union Grove has much larger issues than even I and the people who reached out to me were reporting in 2020.”