VSOs give input on CalVet’s Barstow Veterans Home

CalVet held a stakeholder tele-meeting on Tuesday regarding the Barstow Veterans Home. There were a series of eight stakeholder conference calls on the home, each gathering input from a different group of stakeholders such as the home’s residents, local business, Barstow local government and veterans service organizations. The Tuesday call was for veterans service organizations. Here are our notes from that call: 

1. The call was organized and chaired by the California Department of Veterans Affairs.
2. If there are any veterans, vet leaders, or anyone with an interest in the vet homes who still wishes to make comments, please make them at:  stakeholderinput@calvet.ca.gov
3. CalVet will make its report to the Legislature in February 2021 and commentary from the stakeholder calls or written input will be included.
4. Some key comments/questions were:

• What has been done to try to attract/bring other vets to the home?  CalVet responded that they have tried to bring more vets in, especially homeless vets.  CalVet also noted that the structure of the vet homes’ long-term care licensing limits how much they can stretch the requirements of who they can admit.  CalVet has tried to get homeless vets into the home as much as their federal an d state licensing will allow.
• Are there any medical services needed by the home’s residents that are not provided for in the area?  CalVet responded that it is sometimes hard to get vendors to provide some supplemental services such as LVN, psychiatry, etc.  There is also a shortage of backup vendors.
• Have you looked at utilizing telemedicine?  CalVet responded that they have been working on telemedicine at all the homes. 
• Can CalVet and local hospitals coordinate to share vendors, create partnerships, etc?

  Do the home’s residents face long wait times from the nearest VA hospital (Loma Linda)?

  How many of the home’s resident’s medical needs are not being met?  Before you submit the report, are you going to find out how many vets needs are going unmet in San Bernardino County and the surrounding areas?  CalVet responded that that data may not exist anywhere. They were hoping to get some feel of that from these stakeholder calls.

  A Trustee from the local college (which apparently had deeded the vet home land over to the state) pointed out that the land deed stated the land must be used for a vet facility.  It could not become a skilled nursing facility (SNIF) for non-vets.  I am not sure why this was brought up?  Maybe someone had mentioned that as a possible alternative use for the home?

  One person asked how difficult the drive to the Loma Linda VA was and are the wages for the Barstow Home employees attractive to retain employees?

  Have you considered creating a partnership with Barstow Community College to provide as a feeder of trained employees?  CalVet will look into.  CalVet also mentioned that there is a person working on a C&A.  The program is in the early stages and CalVet is working to resurrect the C&A partnership.  I am not sure what a C&A is, but in the context of the question is probably a program to bring in trained or train students in the local college program.

  The American Legion was concerned that the dollars were driving the final outcome of the Barstow Home rather than the needs of the vets.  The Legion also asked what kind of feedback has CalVet been getting from local vets and residents?  CalVet responded that feedback was as anticipated.  Residents were worried about where they would be living and they want to stay.  Some responded they were for increasing SNIF beds.

  One local commented that she felt the data on the mileage to the Loma Linda Va was not accurately portrayed.  She said that comparing freeway miles may not be comparing apples and oranges.  For instance, 20 miles may not be a long trip in the high desert whereas a 5 mile trip could take a hour or more in the crowded Bay Area.

  Are you still admitting vets to the Barstow Home?   CalVet responded that the pandemic has impacted the intake process.  They are still taking applications.  Bringing new people in could also be medically risky during the state of semi quarantine.

  A commenter noted that the state is going to face more growth and the High Desert is always growing.  Why would we want to push veterans services “down the hill” to the big city?  It causes traffic, etc.

The process for determining the future of the Barstow Home is:

The process to decide the fate of the Barstow Home was outlined in AB 89, the state budget act signed in June:

The Department of Veterans Affairs shall conduct at least three stakeholder meetings regarding its proposed plan for the Barstow Veterans Home during the 2020–21 fiscal year.

The Department of Veterans Affairs shall provide a report to the Legislature by February 1, 2021, on its proposed plan for the Barstow Veterans Home. The plan shall include the following:

(a)       A list of the deferred maintenance needs and associated costs for the home.

(b)       A description of prior actions taken to attempt to increase occupancy of the home.

(c)       A transition plan of the home that is in alignment with the vision of the 2020 Master Plan that includes:

(1)       A detailed transition plan that ensures that no residents of the home are involuntarily discharged without being provided alternate placement options as part of any transition efforts, and includes changes in staffing.

(2)       An estimate of the cost and programmatic impacts of the plan for the home on the department’s Veterans Homes system and the methods for measuring savings and revenue losses.

(3)       Options for expansion of the home’s skilled nursing facility as recommended in the 2020 Master Plan.

(4)       Options for conversion of the home’s intermediate care facility into a residential care facility for the elderly as recommended in the 2020 Master Plan.

(5)       An option for full closure of the home.

(6)       A description of the precautions the department will take to maintain the safety of residents during the public health crisis and how the plan and timeline will be modified if the public health crisis worsens.

(d)       A summary of the options discussed, and feedback received, at the stakeholder meetings required in Provision 4.