BYÂ AMELIA ZAK
State Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Potterville, and state Sen. David Knezek, D-Dearborn Heights, are two Iraq War veterans who were “heartbroken and outraged” when a recent audit revealed the poor quality of care being given to military veterans at a state facility. Barrett and Knezek decided to fight for the veterans.
A recent audit of the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans revealed the state facility was understaffed, that the workers were mishandling complaints of abuse and neglect, and that they were not conducting mandated safety checks.
In a conversation with Stateside, Barrett spoke about what changes the state could make in light of this audit.
“We will see a lot of changes moving forward,” said Barrett. “Some of these could include the ability of the 
Department of Human Services to go in and inspect these homes as they do with any other nursing home that is privately owned. Another idea is assigning an independent ombudsman who would report outside of the chain of command of the home for veterans. And, going forward, looking at how the budgeting is done for the department. Some of the things that were flagged in this audit had been flagged in previous audits but had not been corrected, but the Legislature had appropriated money to fix these problems.”
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