Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 15, 1995 TAG: 9507170068
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY AND LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
State police investigators, who since mid-June have looked into claims of wrongful deaths at the Virginia Veterans Care Center in Roanoke, turned up no evidence to support the allegations.
Police didn't find anyone who said they knew anything about a wrongful death, and that included the former board of trustees member who in a roundabout way kicked off the probe, Secretary of Administration Mike Thomas said Friday.
The suggestion of wrongful death was first made in a petition some of the home's residents circulated in support of board member Michael Fries, after the Blue Ridge resident's conduct on visits to the home became the subject of several investigations.
Fries, who as a board member had a reputation for getting residents' complaints resolved when the home's management was unresponsive, also was in the process of ``investigating charges of wrongful deaths,'' the petition stated.
Thomas, whose office oversees the facility because the state owns it, received a copy of the petition. He said he then had one of his staff members discuss the wrongful-death claim with Diversified Health Services of Virginia Inc., which operates the combination adult home and nursing home.
``We couldn't find anything,'' Thomas said.
The governor's office next decided to involve the state police.
Other investigations have reviewed patient care and general operations at the 232-resident center and come up with ``no deficiencies,'' Thomas said.
The state official said he is convinced that ``things are in good shape at the center.''
``Things are never perfect, but I'd say it is as well run as any comparable facility in the area,'' Thomas said.
Michael Little, care center administrator since February, said all along that he didn't know of any situation that would qualify as a wrongful death.
``I'm very glad it is over,'' he said Friday. ``I didn't think we deserved the allegations.''
Little said he only wants to get back to the business of taking care of residents. The care center has been swamped with investigations and inspections in the five months he has been there - nine total. Three of them were against former trustee Fries.
One of those investigations, conducted by the Piedmont Regional Department of Social Services, prompted Gov. George Allen to boot Fries off the board last month. That investigation, combined with the results of one by the Adult Protective Services Division of the Roanoke Department of Social Services, led to the care center's permanently barring Fries.
Allen's office concluded that Fries' behavior was ``inappropriate'' for a board member. Complaints against Fries included his salty and sometimes racially charged language and that he wore a gun to the facility on several occasions.
Fries has a permit for a concealed weapon.
The care center has, on advice from law enforcement officials, notified Fries by certified letter that he cannot come on the premises. If he does, he can be arrested, Little said.
``I am mandated by my profession to remove a situation that may be harmful to my residents,'' Little said.
The Virginia Veterans Care Center, which is open to any veteran who entered the military in Virginia, was considered a potential model for public-private cooperation when it opened almost three years ago.
Rather than simply state-owned and privately operated, the center, through its board, sets policy and is empowered to collect rent on the facility and make contracts for it. In addition to the administrator position, the home has an executive director employed by the board to monitor Diversified's performance.
The executive director position has been open for several months, but has been advertised.
The number of agencies who have regulatory control or interest in the care center would put it in the running as the most regulated, inspected, investigated state facility in Virginia.
Consider who checks it: the Area Agency on Aging in Roanoke; the Virginia Department of Aging; the Roanoke Department of Social Services; the Piedmont Regional Department of Social Services; the Virginia Board of Nursing; the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salem; the Roanoke Department of Health; the Virginia Board of Nursing; the Virginia Board of Pharmacy; the Occupational Safety and Health Administration; and Diversified Health Services, the private company that leases the facility from the care center's board of trustees.
The federal Health Care Finance Administration randomly conducts surveys just to make sure state Health Department inspectors have properly done their job, Little said.
``I think [the care center] has all it needs,'' Little said. ``We've got a lot of people to try to please all the time.''
Fries could not be reached for comment about the conclusion of the investigation. He had said earlier, however, that he understood Allen's decision to remove him from the board.
by CNB