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ARIZONA GOVERNOR'S STAFF KNEW OF VETS' HOME

PROBLEMS MORE THAN A MONTH AGO -- Official says

there may have been a breakdown in communication.

 

Arizona State Veteran Home in Phoenix

 

Background with backlinks here...
http://vawatchdog.org/07/nf07/nfMAR07/nf033007-3.htm

Story here... http://www.azcentral.com/
news/articles/0330vetshome-ON.html

Story below:

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Governor's staff knew of vets' problems more than a month ago

Matthew Benson
The Arizona Republic
 

Gov. Janet Napolitano's office was notified of severe problems with patient care at the Arizona State Veteran Home six weeks before the issues became public - and weeks before the governor herself said she became aware of what had happened.

E-mails released Friday show that, almost immediately after a Feb. 9 state inspection was conducted, key Napolitano aides were told of patient neglect and other problems uncovered at the veterans home.

State Department of Health Services Director Susan Gerard said Friday that she warned Napolitano's co-chief of staff Alan Stephens of the issues that evening. And e-mail correspondence from Gerard shows that she notified Stephens and Napolitano health advisor January Contreras as early as the next morning with a note that warned of "multiple problems (found at the home), including abuse, neglect and not monitoring residents when they are smoking."

Upon learning of the problems Feb. 11, Napolitano spokeswoman Jeanine L'Ecuyer exclaimed "holy cow" in one e-mail as she asked for additional information. The electronic correspondence was released in response to open records requests by The Republic and other news organizations.

The Department of Health Services immediately began working to correct problems at the veterans home. But the public was not informed - and the Governor's Office remained silent - until The Republic broke the story March 24 detailing the facility's poor showing in the state audit.

It was only a day earlier, L'Ecuyer said, that Napolitano learned of the problems when a report detailing the state investigation arrived at the Governor's Office.

Rep. John McComish, an Ahwatukee Republican, called that lag in notification "inexcusable" and a "disservice."

But L'Ecuyer, who also was tied into much of the mid-February e-mails, noted that problems found at the veterans home didn't initially appear to warrant notifying the governor. She blamed Gerard for not being more explicit.

"She told (the governor's staff) there were some things in (the veterans home) that were troubling, but there was no immediate danger," L'Ecuyer said Friday. "She didn't make the seriousness of it clear.

"It's not unusual for us to hear of a problem at an agency," she continued. "We have to rely on the professionalism of the people who run these agencies to tell us."

A Feb. 11 e-mail from Gerard to L'Ecuyer and Contreras called the state inspection "routine," and noted that "unless there was a 9-1-1 call or a 'tip,' this wouldn't generate press."

But other e-mails painted a more dire picture.

A Feb.12 e-mail from DHS employee Deborah Piluri to Gerard , forwarded to Contreras hours later, noted "substandard care issues were related to neglect, verbal abuse and the lack of timeliness by direct care staff in answering residents' call lights."

And Gerard noted that she also had telephone conversations with Napolitano's staff to discuss the issues. She characterized her manner of alerting the Governor's Office to the problems as "following chain of command."

Gerard conceded there may have been a "breakdown in communication," adding, "Maybe they didn't realize the full seriousness. Maybe I should have insisted on a meeting with the Governor's Office.

"I think maybe they thought, once it's corrected, it's over."

But the issue is anything but "over" - especially with the heightened focus on issues of veterans care in the wake of the scandal at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington D.C.

The Arizona veterans home has already been fined $10,000 stemming from the state investigation, and facility director Patrick Chorpenning resigned this week. A joint legislative committee has been assigned to investigate problems at the home and review oversight at the state veterans department.

Despite rampant speculation to the contrary, Gerard said the governor has not asked to resign her position. But she conceded that she's "in a very difficult situation, serving as both a Napolitano appointee and regulator tasked with looking into issues of neglect at the veterans home.

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Larry Scott  --