Racine Sun

State Congressman Bryan Steil is turning up the heat in his quest to bring about change at the Wisconsin Veterans Home at Union Grove after a recent inspection there turned up a series of recurring violations.

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

Steil’s actions come after the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel detailed in a recent report the latest inspection at Union Grove ended in six violations for the home, adding to a growing list of infractions that have continued to mount over the last five years. Topping the list of infractions have been such violations as failure to keep residents hydrated, neglecting to investigate patient abuse, infection control difficulties, medication errors, bad food and failing to do enough to prevent residents from falling violations.

Dating back to August, the most recent infraction raises the overall number of violations 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.