Paul Egan

Detroit Free Press Lansing Bureau

LANSING The state announced personnel changes at the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency Friday after a scathing audit, with Jeff Barnes, a former campaign manager to Gov. Rick Snyder, removed as director of the Michigan Veteran Affairs Agency.

A highly critical state audit, released Friday, cited staffing shortages and mishandling of abuse complaints at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans.

Snyder said in a news release the audit findings are “deeply troubling” and that veterans deserve the best care that the state can provide.

Snyder said he asked for and accepted the resignation of Barnes, who headed the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency, which oversees the Michigan Veteran Health System that supervises the home.

James Robert Redford of East Grand Rapids, chief legal counsel to the Governor, has been named interim director.

Barnes will be reassigned under Major General Gregory J. Vadnais, adjutant general and director of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, which oversees the veterans agency, Snyder said.

“Jeff is passionate about helping his fellow veterans,” Snyder said. “I know he is as troubled by these findings as I am. A new leadership team is in place, which I am relying on to address the audit.”

The report said the contractor the state hired to provide nursing aides starting in 2013, J2S Group, did not meet staffing requirements 81% of the time during four sampled months. Staffing provided by the contractor was as much as 22 staff members short on a single day, the report said.

Though the home required a daily average of 125.9 staff members, the contractor provided an average of 121.3 staff members, the auditor's report said.Residents at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans and their families deserve higher standards of care, Gov. Rick Snyder said today, and changes are being made to address concerns released in a report today by The Office of the Auditor General.

The audit focused on medical administration, member care documentation, handling of complaints and financial management. It also addressed ongoing staffing shortages and non-narcotic pharmaceutical controls.

“I want to assure families that their veterans are getting improved quality of care. We have made major changes since October, including replacing top leadership who were not doing their jobs properly,” Vadnais said in the release.

“I apologize to any veterans that their quality of care was below standard. These findings are unacceptable, and we’re committed to fixing the problems highlighted in the report.”

Vadnais said the new leadership has already started making changes to improve the home’s care and financial practices.

The audit measured the performance of the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans from Oct.1, 2013 through August 31, 2015.

Auditors looked at surveillance video to show that only 47% of required room checks and 33% of fall-alarm checks were done, even though the home produced documentation that the checks occurred. The audit found that of 91 resident complaints received over 23 months, 38 of those related to alleged abuse or neglect. The auditor examined 10 of those abuse and neglect complaints and found that nine were not forwarded to the nursing director for investigation, as required.

The release said the agency has worked with J2S to resolve the staffing issues.

But the Michigan AFL-CIO issued a statement Friday that said the problems show the privatization effort was a failure.

“The tragic lesson from this failed experiment is that privatization simply doesn’t work,” said Ron Bieber, president of the Michigan AFL-CIO.

"It is now painfully clear that the 2011 budget passed by Lansing Republicans, which included the privatization of the Home for Veterans, was a terrible mistake."

“According to the auditor’s report, the facility was chronically understaffed, employees routinely failed to respond to alarm checks, and the for-profit management company failed to investigate complaints of abuse and neglect," Bieber said. "That’s outrageous and unacceptable.

“No one should have to endure such horrible living conditions, especially not our military veterans. The state needs to stop shortchanging these brave men and women, and take immediate action by terminating its contract with J2S, which has proven to be totally inadequate and incompetent. Our veterans deserve nothing less.”

Barnes served nearly 10 years as an Armored Cavalry Officer in the U.S. Army, including tours in Korea and the Balkans, and two tours in Iraq. He was Snyder's campaign manager in 2010.

Redford served 28 years in the U.S. Navy and retired as a Captain in 2012. He was a military trial judge for five years in the U.S. Navy Reserves and had three tours as a commanding officer, of the Navy Reserve Trial Judiciary, the Reserve Navy Legal Service Office and the civil litigation unit in Washington, D.C.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4.