State accepts third-party overseer of veterans’ homes as part of consent decree with justice department

One year after a Department of Justice report harshly criticized the New Jersey state government for the way it handled the COVID-19 outbreak in two of its veterans’ homes, the state and the U.S. Department of Justice last week jointly filed a consent decree in a U.S. District Court of New Jersey.

The key provision of the consent decree is the appointment of a third-party monitor by the federal government over the Menlo Park and Paramus veterans’ homes – the two facilities criticized in the report.

A consent decree is essentially a legally binding performance improvement plan agreed to by all parties in a legal action and approved by a court.

The New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs is responsible for operating both Menlo Park and Paramus as well as a third Veterans Home in Vineland. All three facilities provide long-term care to veterans.

When the COVID-19 outbreak swept through New Jersey, more than 200 veterans died in the veteran homes – mostly in Menlo Park and Paramus.

A Justice Department investigation in 2023 concluded that residents in these two facilities faced unreasonable harm and risk due to inadequate infection control practices and deficient medical care. The Justice Department ruled these conditions violated the patient’s right under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The report further said the inadequate care was compounded by ineffective management and oversight.

“Such deficiencies exposed residents to uncontrolled, serious and deadly infections and have resulted in the veterans’ homes suffering among the highest number of resident deaths of all similarly sized facilities in the region,” the report stated.

Gov Phil Murphy said the state welcomed the additional input and oversight.

“We are committed to making sure our veterans have the best possible care and quality of life at all three of our Veterans Homes,” he said. “We can resolve past differences with the Department of Justice and focus our efforts on providing the best possible care to our Veterans Homes residents.

“I’m proud of the progress we have made and remain determined to not only meet federal standards but to exceed them.”

Murphy signed into law a series of reforms at the Veterans Homes even before the Justice Department report was made public. These reforms included:

  • hiring full-time resident advocates;
  • implementing new electronic medical records systems;
  • creating new learning management systems that has enabled thousands of hours of training and continuing education for staff;
  • increasing wages for frontline healthcare workers.

Recent surveys conducted at both Menlo Park and Paramus by the New Jersey Department of Health on behalf of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reported zero deficiencies in two separate no-notice focused infection control surveys.

The surveys occurred on Sept. 5 and Sept. 10. The Veterans Memorial Home at Vineland also achieved zero deficiencies in a no-notice focused infection control survey on June 8.

These no-notice focused infection control surveys consisted of inspections that assessed the homes’ procedures related to infection control regulations, including staff handwashing, donning and doffing of personal protective equipment and continuing education records.

Menlo Park also received no clinical deficiencies in two no-notice facility wide surveys conducted by the New Jersey Department of Health from July 8-16 and July 16-19.
These separate surveys were comprehensive and encompassed everything from the home’s infection control and clinical care to kitchen operations, human resources, emergency management and housekeeping.