Wednesday, February 19, 2003
Page 7
AFFAIRS OF STATE (Column)
Problems at Veterans’ Homes Must Be Solved
By DAVID KLINE
It’s well known that newspapers prepare obituaries in advance for aging celebrities so they can fill in the blanks —age, cause of death, etc.—and get the story out even if the person dies as the paper is headed to the press.
Sadly, it has become apparent that the same technique could be used by writers who report on the veterans’ homes of California.
“A____-year-old resident of the veterans’ home at__________died yesterday due to negligent care by the staff of the taxpayer-funded facility.”
The story, which would be pulled out every year or so, would continue with quotes from state officials vowing to increase oversight of the home and take corrective action to ensure the safety of other residents.
Why can’t our state government figure out a way to keep the staff from killing residents at our special homes for men and women who fought for our country? Why are we letting our World War II heroes be tortured in death camps on our own soil?
California has three veterans’ homes. In addition to older facilities in Yountville and Barstow, there is a 2-year-old home in Chula Vista. Legislation enacted last year allows the construction of five more homes, with several in Southern California, where there is a huge population of aging veterans.
Trouble has plagued the homes for many years. The latest problem involves a 78-year-old man who died in the Barstow facility because a staff doctor prescribed medication without checking medical records to rule out possible harmful reactions.
An investigation by the state Department of Health Services revealed that the doctor also failed to monitor the patient for signs of such a reaction.
These errors were fatal. An easily preventable drug interaction did occur, and the patient lost a dangerous amount of weight over a one-month period—he couldn’t even get out of bed to use the bathroom.
Staff doctors didn’t investigate to determine the cause of the resident’s obvious deterioration, but the man’s own doctor eventually did some probing and discovered the problem. He rushed the man to the hospital, but it was too late to save his life.
The state fined itself $95,000 for the death, which just means the money will be transferred from one government agency to another, with no benefit for veterans or taxpayers.
Past deaths in the Barstow and Yountville homes also have resulted in meaningless fines and hollow promises for improvements. The Yountville facility was fined in 1997 for inadequate care—the U.S. Health Care Financing Administration described “serious deficiencies” and “substandard quality of care”—and last year, the home’s chief medical officer told his superiors that residents there were getting “worse than Third World” medical care.
In Barstow, things were so bad in 1999 that the facility failed three state inspections. In 2000, the home was fined for a wide variety of problems, including the death of two residents. In one death, a patient who needed assistance eating was left unattended and choked to death on a piece of broccoli. In the other death, a diabetic patient’s blood sugar was not monitored properly, and he died in a diabetic coma.
The Barstow home even lost its Medicare and Medi-Cal certification because of the problems with resident care. The certification was renewed after the home improved its act enough to pass later inspections.
In response to such problems, the state has created an inspector general to review the veterans’ homes and a Blue Ribbon Task Force to recommend ways to improve care. But the latest incident shows that this bureaucracy hasn’t solved all the problems.
Human error is unavoidable, even in the medical field, but there is a certain level of competence that residents and taxpayers expect. Doctors should know to check medical records before prescribing new drugs, and should know to monitor patients after the new drugs are ingested. Nurses should know which residents can’t be left unattended. Administrators should know how to hire competent workers.
Solutions to the ongoing problems at the veterans’ homes must be found before the state goes further with its plan to spend millions in tax dollars and bond proceeds to build five more facilities. We need to make sure we’re building homes to care for our war heroes, not kill them.
— Capitol News Service
Copyright 2003, Metropolitan News Company