ST. PAUL - Minnesota's five military veterans homes will have new supervision to improve accountability and medical care.
Oversight of the veterans homes is being transferred from a voluntary board to the state Department of Veterans Affairs, Gov. Tim Pawlenty and members of an appointed commission said Monday.
Pawlenty signed an executive order eliminating a volunteer Veterans Homes Board, shifting duties to the Veterans Affairs Department and a deputy commissioner who will oversee the homes. Also, the governor created a Veterans Health Care Council that will advise the agency on how best to care for the state's 450,000 veterans.
"Our veterans in Minnesota and America deserve the best care possible that we can give to them," Pawlenty said at a Capitol news conference. "We need to make sure our veterans homes are up to that standard and up to that expectation."
Pawlenty in February created a Veterans Long Term Care Commission to study the system and make recommendations on how to improve operations and oversight. That came after repeat regulatory problems at the Minneapolis Veterans Home between July 2005 and earlier this year.
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The Minneapolis Veterans Home has periodically been plagued by concerns about the level of care at the facility dating back to the 1980s, Pawlenty said.
Other state veterans homes are in Fergus Falls, Luverne, Silver Bay and Hastings, but concerns about poor care have focused on the Minneapolis facility.
"The system, overall, has served our veterans long and well in most instances," Pawlenty said, "but that doesn't mean we can't do better."
The governor has authority to reorganize the homes' governing structure, but the Minnesota Legislature also will play a role as the state explores new ways to care for veterans. Two-thirds of Minnesota veterans are under age 65.
State Rep. Erin Murphy, a nurse and veterans commission member, said lawmakers will help decide how to structure the homes to meet changing needs of veterans.
Though recent problems at the Minneapolis Veterans Home were not blamed on inadequate funding, Murphy said lawmakers probably will need to approve more spending for the facilities in the future.
"To create the vision in the (commission's) report, it is going to take resources," Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, said.
