Statewide Iowa — Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is questioning the head of the US Department of Veterans Affairs about reports of inconsistent inspection practices and a lack of quality controls at veterans homes nationwide.
Those concerns include the pandemic and reports that show more than 14-hundred residents and staff of VA homes nationwide have died of COVID-19. The VA spends about one billion dollars a year on state run homes for veterans. The homes are only required to do one annual safety inspection.
Grassley, a Republican, says it appears the standard of care at many state veterans homes “falls well short” of those required by other government-supported nursing homes. He says, “Americans deserve answers and our veterans deserve better.”
A Politico report says nearly 14-hundred VA residents and 40 staff have died from COVID-19 in 110 state veterans homes. In the worst case, 110 deaths were reported at a 126 bed veterans home in New York. It’s unclear how many veterans, if any, have died from COVID at the Iowa Veterans Home.
This summer, it was reported that two residents of the home in Marshalltown who were housed in the COVID unit had died. IVH officials said both veterans had “significantly compromised health conditions” and thus, they weren’t listed as COVID deaths.
