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CALIFORNIA STATE SENATOR LAUNCHES PROBE OF

YOUNTVILLE VETERANS HOME -- "Residents and staff

have reported a wide range of issues, including disabled

residents that have been left unattended lying in their

feces...and inadequacy of medical equipment

exacerbating injuries and perhaps death."

 

State VA Home at Yountville, California.

 

For more on the Yountville Veterans Home in California, use the VA Watchdog search engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/
sessearch.php?q=yount
ville&op=and

Story here... http://www.napavalley
register.com/articles/2007/08/27/n
ews/local/doc46d30f997591
8047842836.txt

Story below:

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Wiggins launches probe of Vets Home

Concerns raised about medical care, conditions for disabled people

By Register Staff

State Sen. Patricia Wiggins is seeking a probe into health care conditions at the Veterans Home of California in Yountville, where 1,200 veterans reside.

“Residents and staff have reported a wide range of issues, including disabled residents that have been left unattended lying in their feces, visually-impaired veterans who have been unable to ascertain their food choices in the mess hall or decipher home communications, and inadequacy of medical equipment resulting exacerbating injuries and perhaps death,” Wiggins, D-Santa Rosa, said this morning.

“It is an embarrassment that our veterans, who served our country honorably, have been treated so poorly in their time of need,” she said. “This audit will serve as a blueprint to correct deficiencies and bring back the high standards of care our veterans so richly deserve.”

Wiggins said she has asked the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, of which she is a member, to investigate the adequacy of health care and accommodation of residents’ disabilities.

Vets Home officials could not immediately be reached for comment Monday morning.

In March, after a veterans’ care scandal came to light at Walter Reed Medical Center in the nation’s capitol, Yountville Vets Home officials cited positive reviews of their facility conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

The data collected by these federal agencies from 2005-06 show the home’s Nelson Holderman Memorial Hospital to be on par or better than other nursing homes in California and throughout the United States.

The 2005-06 survey looked into conditions such as the percentage of hospital patients who are given preventative vaccinations, the levels of pain and bedsores reported by patients and depression and anxiety levels reported by patients.

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Larry Scott  --