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Latest inspection of Minneapolis Vets Home finds fewer violations

State health officials say that while some problems at the Minneapolis Veterans Home remain and the number of violations are higher than usual, care is improving.

By WARREN WOLFE, Star Tribune

Last update: April 15, 2008 - 11:40 PM

After three years of intense state scrutiny and more than $800,000 paid to state-ordered consultants, regulatory troubles have eased at the Minneapolis Veterans Home.

State health officials said Tuesday that they found 16 rule violations during the home's annual inspection last month -- well above the average of 10 for a Minnesota nursing home, but far better than the 26 and 28 violations in the previous two annual inspections.

"There's a better feel out there," said Darcy Miner, who heads the state Health Department inspectors. "There's attention to systems as well as individual care."

"There still are some nursing problems, some issues with resident privacy and dignity, some problems in [dental] care," she said. "But overall, this survey shows significant improvement from last year, both with the number and nature of deficiencies."

Between 2005 and 2007, the home was cited for 66 violations and fined $42,300 when some problems were not corrected promptly. Gov. Tim Pawlenty last November moved the system of five state-owned veterans homes from an independent board to the state Department of Veterans Affairs.

Changing leadership

"I'm very proud of the staff at Minneapolis," said Gil Acevedo, deputy veterans affairs commissioner, who took over leadership of the system in January. "We have much more to do, but we're making progress and they've worked very hard to get our systems back in place."

The Minneapolis home has been in and out of regulatory compliance for decades. Since 2005, those problems led to the firing of six of its top leaders. More change is coming soon as leadership changes at three of the homes, including Minneapolis, Acevedo said Tuesday.

Carol Gilbertson, interim administrator at Minneapolis, will become administrator at the home in Silver Bay. Mike Bond, the Silver Bay administrator, will move to the home in Luverne. Pam Burrows, administrator at Luverne, will become Acevedo's assistant.

Acevedo said he has interviewed candidates to head the Minneapolis home, but has expanded his search because "it's very important that we get this right. There's been too much turnover there." Gilbertson will remain at Minneapolis until it has a new administrator.

Along with work on new quality-improvement systems, better training and staff reorganization, his department has begun long-range planning for changes needed at the five homes and expansion of services to veterans living at home.

He said that process will be helped by Pawlenty's appointment earlier this month of a nine-person advisory council, which includes two CEOs of long-term care nonprofit companies, a retired health department regulator and a former director of the Minneapolis Veterans Medical Center.

What to do with Building 9

The facility still faces problems as officials work to improve care there.

Chief among them is what to do with Building 9, a boarding care home condemned last fall because of disintegrating steel girders. The 50 residents were moved to the top floor of the adjacent nursing home.

Pawlenty proposed spending $27 million to tear it down and replace it with a new nursing home, but the funding was not included in the bonding bill Pawlenty signed last week.

Some observers at the Capitol say the proposal could be resurrected in a new bonding bill that includes money for the light rail project connecting St. Paul and Minneapolis.

"But if that doesn't happen, we'll just have to figure out what to do," Acevedo said. "Keeping those residents in the nursing home is not ideal, but it's the space we've got for now."

Warren Wolfe • 612-673-7253