July 6, 2007

Rhode Island Veterans Home: Interim Report

These are the results of an interim study of operations and administration at the home, which was released in July 2007. The special study commission was formed under legislation by the Rhode Island House Veterans Affairs Committee; it calls for a comprehensive study of all medical, administrative, and operations functions at the Veterans Home. The final report is due in January 2008.

Criticisms cited in the interim report include:

• Abuse of policies concerning the authorized release of information. Veterans Home administrators do not facilitate, and often obstruct, the release of information to families of residents.
   

• Antagonism toward the families of residents whom staff identify as troublesome.
   

• Antagonism toward residents themselves when they complain or challenge established policies and procedures or when they insist upon the enforcement of rights that interfere with day-to-day efficiencies at the Veterans Home. This antagonism includes inappropriate efforts to have uncooperative residents declared incompetent when they are not.
   

• Low morale among some staff members who complain that the Veterans Home is run like a prison camp. There are complaints about a decline in the quality of care secondary to the failure to maintain an adequate number of full-time employees, and reliance upon temporary and agency pool staff fill-ins. There is insufficient permanent staff with 42 registered nursing staff positions and 14 vacancies.