The findings “raise concerns about whether the board can sustain long-term operations without additional external support.” 500 Tennessee veterans live in the homes.
Image: John Moss, a veteran of World War II, in the Franklin, Tenn.. Veterans Day parade on Nov.11, 2024. Image Credit: John Partipilo
***Note from The Tennessee Conservative – this article posted here for informational purposes only.
By Anita Wadhwani [Tennessee Lookout -CC BY-NC-ND 4.0] –
A new audit by the Tennessee Comptroller cites a series of lapses in financial oversight and patient care in state-operated nursing homes for veterans.
A 13-member Tennessee State Veterans’ Homes Board oversees five long-term care facilities to “provide support and care for honorably discharged veterans who served in the United States armed forces.” About 500 Tennessee veterans live in the homes. A sixth facility with space for 126 is under construction.
The facilities are funded by Veterans Affairs benefits, Medicare, TennCare and private insurance. They have been operating in the red since at least 2020, the audit said. The homes get no state funding.
Between 2020 and 2024, the board reported $57 million in revenues, but operating losses each year ranged from nearly $2 million to $8 million. A 2024 accounting error overstated the home’s cash balance by $7 million, the audit found.
Collectively these financial losses and lapses “raise concerns about whether the board can sustain long-term operations without additional external support, a major shift in financial strategies, or a combination of both,” auditors concluded.
While the veterans’ homes board reported its finances had improved during the four-year time period covered by the audit, the Comptroller’s report noted that improvement was almost entirely attributable to one-time federal grants and donations tied to construction of new homes, not better financial management.
Ed Harris, executive director of the veterans homes, told lawmakers Tuesday that the program’s finances had suffered setbacks for several reasons, including that federal payments were delayed for patients admitted to a newly constructed facility in Cleveland, Tenn., he said. And, like other nursing facilities, the veterans homes are still feeling the lingering impact of the COVID pandemic.
Since the pandemic, Harris said, “our census dropped dramatically, as it did in all nursing homes. The public lost faith in the nursing home industry, and we were included into that mix, although we performed better than the average nursing homes with that so the biggest takeaway here is that this finding will not be repeated in the next audit.”
The 93-page audit released this month also cited problems with quality of care for veterans in one home.
Federal regulators issued a four-star rating for the Murfreesboro State Veterans Home in 2022 for its quality of care. By January 2025, the facility was downgraded to a one-star rating.
The Tennessee Health Facilities Commission cited allegations of abuse and quality of care “at an immediate jeopardy level” at the facility. Medicare Care Compare, a federally-operated comparison site, issued an advisory that the home had been cited for abuse. The Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services suspended payments for 11 months, costing the veterans homes $193,000. The payments resumed in June 2024.
The board, in a written response to the audit, noted it is disputing the findings; its formal appeal remains ongoing.
The audit also cited instances in which the veterans homes staff did not receive permission from some of its residents to manage their money and they did not sufficiently oversee veteran’s finances. Nursing homes, broadly, may be designated to manage patients’ bank accounts. In some instances, veterans had received checks dating back to February 2023 that were never cashed, the audit found.
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