Widely criticized for failing to prevent the spread of COVID-19 that killed 200 inside the state's three nursing homes for veterans, the Murphy administration on Wednesday outlined its plans to spend millions of dollars in improvements and create a new agency focused on veterans' health.
“I have said many times: the more eyes on our veterans homes, the better. I mean that. We have been scrutinized more than any of the other long-term care facilities in New Jersey,” Maj. General Lisa Hou, the commissioner for the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs told the state Assembly Budget Committee in Trenton.
Under the glare of that scrutiny, however, the veterans homes in Edison Paramus and Vineland have met inspection standards over the last two years, Hou said.
“New Jersey is not only moving decisively to improve our veterans homes. We are investing more than we ever have to support service members, veterans, and their families,” she said during an hour-long hearing on Gov. Phil Murphy's proposed $262.8 million department's budget for the next fiscal year.
Budget committee members reminded Hou of the U.S. Justice Department's investigation that concluded “the state failed to implement adequate infection control protocols, provide adequate clinical care, and “provide oversight of the facilities in a manner that keeps the residents of the Veterans Homes safe from harm,” according to a report issued in…
