Minnesota governor signs executive order creating Veterans Long Term Care Commission
In response to ongoing patient care issues at theMinneapolis Veterans Home, Governor Tim Pawlenty today (Wednesday,Feb. 28) signed an executive order (07-02) establishing a VeteransLong Term Care Commission. The Commission will be charged withidentifying “the best approach for the future operation, management,administration and governance of the Veterans Home.”
Yesterday, Gov. Pawlenty directed the Minnesota Department of Health(MDH) to send staff into the facility to monitor operations, andintervene in patient care activities as necessary. In addition, theGovernor and Health Commissioner Dianne Mandernach are directing theVeterans Home to hire an outside long term care consultant within twoweeks. The consultant will be able to assume responsibility forday-to-day operation of the facility. “The chronic problemsat the Minneapolis Veterans Home are unacceptable to me and to allMinnesotans,” Governor Pawlenty said. “We are taking immediate actionto improve the situation and long term action to fix the way the systemworks. Our veterans deserve excellent care and we won’t stop untilwe’ve achieved that goal.” Gov. Pawlenty and CommissionerMandernach announced the measures in response to a number of recentevents pointing to significant problems at the facility. Two recent MDHcomplaint investigations involving the facility found evidence of“neglect” in monitoring a patient with diabetes for hypoglycemia, and“significant errors” in administering drugs to two patients withmedication allergies. All three of the patients involved inthe two complaint investigations subsequently died. However, MDHinvestigators focused on errors in the treatment of the patients, anddid not attempt to draw any conclusions about whether the errors causedthe patients’ deaths.
Commissioner Mandernach also citedrecent routine inspections – or “surveys” – that found multiple ruleviolations at the Veterans Home. The most recent survey was conductedlast November, and a follow-up survey is currently in progress.
Visit Hometown Source. com for more info. http://hometownsource.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=766&Itemid=29