The Director of the State’s Bureau of Veterans Homes says he’s taking another look at the policy on the admission of veterans spouses. A state audit released Thursday, criticized the Hollidaysburg Veterans Home, for declining to admit 12 spouses despite having 70 empty beds.
Andrew Ruscavage says the veterans home has designated beds for personal care, skilled and dementia care, so the appropriate space for an individual may not have been available. However, he wants to see if it’s possible to admit more spouses, without adversely affecting the admission of veterans. He noted that financial reimbursement from the federal for non-veterans is also lower and that has to be taken into consideration, as part of the overall budget at the homes.
Ruscavage says the veterans homes in the state do offer a bed for every veteran that applies, and always have a bed open for a veteran somewhere in the system.
Speaking overall on the auditor general’s report, Ruscavage said it was limited in scope, focusing on the wait list and the monitoring of grievances and in no way evaluated the safety, medical treatment or welfare of the residents.
