U.S. Cuts Off All Funding for VA Home in Barstow

SACRAMENTO —  The federal government Thursday abruptly cut off about $300,000 in monthly payments to the beleaguered Veterans Home in Barstow for its failure to meet patient care and management standards.

U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Togo D. West Jr. sent a letter notifying the state of his decision to halt payments to the home because an inspection concluded that “residents were at risk and were receiving substandard care.”

“They’re not in compliance with VA standards,” said Jim Holley, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. “We had to withdraw. . . [the] payments by law, that was our only option.”

The federal payments help provide care for about 270 patients at the home for aging and disabled veterans.

State officials said the surprise move by federal officials will not affect care to residents because the state will continue to fund the home. VA officials said the bulk of the home’s support is from federal Medicare and state Medi-Cal sources that were not affected by the cutoff.

“It is our goal to make this impact as small as possible, to get this thing corrected and get ourselves back in good standing so that payments can be resumed,” said Jerry Jones, spokesman for the state Department of Veterans Affairs.

The unusual move by federal officials represents a setback to Gov. Gray Davis, who has pushed to keep the Barstow home open and to correct problems. A Davis spokeswoman said Thursday that the governor had no comment on the cutoff of funds.

During a three-day inspection this winter, federal officials said they found substandard medical care of aging and disabled residents. The inspectors also cited a high rate of turnover in top management and poor documentation of medical records.

The federal action comes amid continuing controversy at the state Department of Veterans Affairs, which runs the home.

Last month, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Tomas Alvarado, whose confirmation was about to be rejected by the state Senate, submitted his resignation to Davis. This followed a surprise investigation the governor personally ordered into the Feb. 11 death of an elderly veteran whose death has been attributed by conflicting reports to either a heart attack or choking on broccoli.

That investigation occurred after the Barstow home narrowly kept its state license to operate as a nursing home.

The decision to cut the funding stunned state officials. They said they had already filed a “plan of correction” intended to meet federal standards.

Federal officials, however, contend that the state has been on notice of its failure to meet care standards at the home for more than two years. Holley said four inspections were conducted from December 1997 to last February and that each time the state was notified of problems.

“After each inspection we worked with them to try and fix the problems but they were never fully addressed,” Holley said.

The decision to halt funding came after the director of the VA Medical Center at Loma Linda, which monitors the Barstow home, notified the state in April that the home failed to meet VA standards. To his department’s knowledge, Holley said, state officials have not appealed.

The funds that were suspended account for about $3.4 million of the home’s annual $20-million budget.

Jones said that the loss of funds, which took effect Thursday, “will not affect the quality of care. The department will spend the necessary money for medical care and the quality of care will not suffer.”