The Minneapolis Veterans Home failed to ensure that its residents were treated with dignity and to protect them from bed sores and medication errors, even after those problems and others were brought to light last fall, state officials said Wednesday.

The Health Department notified the state-owned nursing home that it will be fined $1,850 a day until it corrects the problems found during a follow-up inspection in February.

Among other things, inspectors found that staff members failed to do enough to prevent confused or frail patients from falling and injuring themselves.

At meals, inspectors watched staffers feed "heaping spoons of pureed food" to a resident who had trouble swallowing, and cold scrambled eggs to others. When questioned, the staff members said "they didn't think there was anything wrong with eating the cold food," according to the inspection report released Wednesday.

Charles (Chip) Cox, who heads the board that runs the Veterans Home, said he hasn't studied the report yet, but added, "I don't think there will be any disputing of the findings."

Cox said that the Veterans Home had corrected most of the violations found in November, but he didn't know why some remained. "We will correct those just as quickly as we can," he said. "We are working on that plan of correction as we speak."

The home has been under fire since last week, when state officials disclosed that three residents had died in January following medications errors or neglect. Gov. Tim Pawlenty ordered the Health Department to begin monitoring its day-to-day operations.

In the report released Wednesday, state inspectors found that the home had corrected 20 of the 26 violations found during the November inspection.

But a followup last month found three new violations, in addition to the six remaining ones that prompted the fines.

Health Commissioner Dianne Mandernach said such fines "are not uncommon," but they show the state is taking the problem seriously. "Do we consider these violations serious? I would suggest we do," she said. "The governor is looking for long-term solutions."

Among other things, inspectors found that the staff failed to take proper steps to prevent residents from falling repeatedly. In one case, they said, a resident's wife begged the staff to use restraints on her husband, who kept falling and injuring himself. When they refused, she complained, "Is this all I can expect for serving your country?"

In another case, an inspector noticed a nurse accidentally brush a needle containing insulin against a book. When the inspector told her she had contaminated the needle, the nurse replied: "Really? When did I do that?"

The inspectors also cited the staff for violating the patient "bill of rights," including the right to "courteous treatment."

In one case, the report says, a staff member startled one woman by suddenly pulling her wheelchair backwards to the dinner table. During a meal, two staff members sat at the table with five residents, but didn't talk to them "except to direct them to eat," the report said.

During another meal, an inspector noted that the staff left eggs and oatmeal uncovered, and fed it to residents when it was cold. "When asked about reheating the food, the [staff member] responded by asking, 'You mean we have to reheat the food during the meal? '" the report said. "They continued to feed the residents cold eggs."

Maura Lerner • 612-673-7384

Maura Lerner • mlerner@startribune.com