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.”