Green Bay Reporter

State Congressman Bryan Steil is taking a stand for veterans across the state in the face of a new yearly inspection of the Wisconsin Veterans Home at Union Grove turning up a number of recurring violations.

“Our veterans deserve the best care possible,” Steil tweeted. “It’s past time that we are providing veterans at the state-run home at Union Grove with the resources they need.”

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, earlier this year the facility at Union Grove was cited for six violations, adding to a growing list of infractions that have continued to mount over the last five years. Topping the list of infractions have been failure to keep residents hydrated, neglecting to investigate patient abuse, infection control difficulties, medication errors, bad food and failure to do enough to prevent residents from falling violations.

Cited in August, the most recent violation raises the overall number of infractions issued against Union Grove to 76 since 2017. More recently, state officials have cited a lack of employees, particularly at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when nursing homes across the country experienced similar shortages, for the difficulties at Union Grove. A subsequent Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation found the Union Grove facility was among the most troubled veterans’ homes in the country, with U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data ranking the home in the top five out of 117 CMS-certified facilities for having the most fines and violations.

It has since been revealed that the state failed to apply for federal funds for veterans' institutions, which could have gone a long way toward easing staffing issues.