The state Senate approved a Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs funding bill Thursday that including money for a new working group to probe the quality of care at state veterans homes, where workers have complained of a “toxic culture.”
The Senate wants to spend $190,000 to study how veterans living in two domiciliaries in Hastings and Minneapolis are cared for and whether changes are needed. The domiciliaries are not nursing homes, but care homes that are often a last resort for veterans struggling with medical problems and substance abuse.
In March, more than a dozen workers at the Hastings home spoke publicly about a long-standing culture of bullying and retaliation of caregivers. They said medical decisions about care for residents were often overruled by staff without medical training.
An inquiry by a state human resources consultant, obtained by the Pioneer Press through a public records request, also found widespread feelings of “doom, fear, and intimidation” among workers at the facility.
But current and former caregivers say even though they complained to leaders nearly a year ago, nothing happened until they spoke publicly about their experiences. In mid-March, two days before he testified to the Senate veterans committee, Larry Herke, state veterans affairs commissioner, fired two top administrators in charge of the facility, saying a leadership change was needed.
Sen. Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, who chairs the veterans committee, said it was important to take the workers’ allegations seriously and to learn more about the quality of care at the domiciliaries in Hastings and Minneapolis. Murphy and her colleagues on the committee have pledged to investigate further.
Several lawmakers also have questioned how a “toxic workplace” had been allowed to exist for several years.
Murphy and Sen. Nicole Mitchell, DFL-Woodbury, the chief sponsor of the funding bill, said they visited the Hastings facility in early April for an extended tour. Murphy added that her office continued to receive concerns from workers at state veterans homes.
“This is important,” Murphy said in response to questions about the need for the probe. She said it would ensure the domiciliaries’ staffing model was “well aligned for now and where we are going next.”
Sen. Mitchell added: “We feel it is important to make sure the places where our vets are being served are up to the standard we owe our veterans.”
GOP response
Sen. Mark Koran, R-North Branch, who is also a member of the veterans committee, expressed concerns that yet another working group would be tasked with oversight that should be the responsibility of Commissioner Herke and other state leaders.
“Do we really need a working group to do the work that management is responsible for in the first place,” Koran said in an interview before the provision was debated Thursday. “We either have the wrong people or something is seriously wrong. To me, it is likely they need a new leader. It starts at the top.”
In his committee testimony, Herke told senators that he moved quickly when he first received complaints of a toxic workplace culture at the Hastings home in June 2022. He developed a 10-point plan that included anti-bullying and workplace harassment training.
When the culture didn’t improve quickly enough, Herke said he decided to make leadership changes. Herke went out on an unrelated medical leave in early April and is expected to return next month.
Gov. Tim Walz said last week he was grateful for the “diligent and ongoing work” Herke and the veterans affairs department was doing to address concerns in Hastings.
Under the Senate’s proposed working group, top officials from the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs and the state Department of Health as well as caregivers and other stakeholders would probe whether training and staffing levels are adequate to care for the residents of the two domiciliaries.
The panel also would investigate if the correct management structure was in place and the outcomes of the care provided to veterans. The working group would make a report to the Legislature by Jan. 15, 2024.
The veterans affairs funding bill passed the Senate Thursday with a 66-1 vote. Funding for the working group is not included in the House version of the bill and differences between the two versions would need to be worked out in conference committee.
