Cape Girardeau Archives

Armstrong Teasdale: Missouri veterans homes should undergo a COVID-19 reset (AUDIO)

December 3, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

An independent investigation into the recent COVID-19 deaths at Missouri veterans homes has found that the Missouri Veterans Commission (MVC) headquarters failed to recognize the outbreak.

Armstrong Teasdale’s 53-page report says MVC should have recognized the presence of an outbreak in the veterans home in southeast Missouri’s Cape Girardeau by September 2.

MVC Chairman Tim Noonan says a tremendous amount of data was coming in.

“When the data was analyzed, there should have been a faster response to really recognize that the outbreak was growing in a way that ran faster than the protocols that we had in place,” Noonan says.

29 veterans have died from COVID at the Cape Girardeau veterans home since September 1, and there have been 34 deaths at the home in northwest Missouri’s Cameron. There have been at least 109 deaths at veterans homes statewide since September.

Armstrong Teasdale’s report also found a failure on the part of MVC headquarters to respond to the outbreak. Armstrong Teasdale’s report says MVC headquarters “was lulled into a false sense of security and failed to capitalize on its early successes” in the spring.

“The Veterans Commission should have anticipated an inevitability that the virus would get in (to the veterans homes), and if it did get in, how fast it could spread,” says Noonan.

Noonan tells Missourinet that this was a complex problem that overwhelmed very well-intended people.

The report notes that COVID cases among veterans at the homes jumped from two in August to 173 in September. Staff cases increased from eight in August to 74 in September.

Armstrong Teasdale’s report makes dozens of recommendations, including calling on MVC headquarters and veterans homes to develop a comprehensive COVID-19 outbreak plan.

The report notes that some veterans have roommates and share toilet and shower facilities. Armstrong Teasdale recommends that veterans reside in private rooms with private bathrooms, “to the extent possible.”

Armstrong Teasdale is also recommending that all Missouri veterans homes undergo a “COVID-19 reset,” meaning fundamental education regarding COVID and how to prevent its spread.

They also recommend that MVC consider retaining an occupational health nurse on headquarters staff, through the end of the pandemic. Another recommendation is making sure that veterans in the homes receive priority, when a safe vaccine becomes available.

Chairman Noonan is reviewing the recommendations closely.

“We’re going to take them all (recommendations) seriously and implement the ones that we think are going to have an impact,” Noonan says. “And definitely, staffing matters. Having the right talent, doing the right job matters.”

Noonan says MVC will drive the reforms that are needed. He also praises MVC staff, including its nurses and CNA’s, saying they have been working hard during the pandemic.

Noonan praises Armstrong Teasdale’s investigators as well, noting they are veterans.

He says MVC’s job as leaders and managers must be to anticipate problems, just not fix them. He says the commission can do better in anticipating problems, in communicating and in making sure the staff has the resources that they need.

Another section of the report highlights the emotional toll the pandemic has taken on veterans living in Missouri veterans homes. Veterans currently cannot see family members, due to COVID concerns.

The report recommends that the homes establish a protocol to allow a limited number of designated family members to visit their loves one, saying it will provide veterans the contact they desperately need and will provide staff some relief.

“Some of the many ways in which family members are instrumental in their loved ones’ care include feeding or coaxing to eat, cleaning ears to help them hear better, helping them shower, providing passive range of motion, getting them out of bed, helping them turn in bed to prevent bedsores, trimming their eyebrows, brushing their teeth, dressing them and communicating with the medical team,” Armstrong Teasdale’s report reads, in part.

The report also says that it’s clear that MVC headquarters and homes staff genuinely care for the veterans. One family member told an investigator “They treated him (her veteran family member) like a hero.”

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s interview with Missouri Veterans Commission (MVC) Chairman Tim Noonan, which was recorded on December 2, 2020:

Kehoe: initial report about COVID deaths in Missouri veterans homes mentions air flow systems (AUDIO)

November 5, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The lieutenant governor says the Missouri Veterans Commission (MVC) has released an initial report about the increasing number of COVID deaths in Missouri veterans homes, since September.

Governor Mike Parson addresses the Missouri Legislature in 2019, as Lt. Governor Mike Kehoe listens (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe (R) tells Missourinet that the initial report was issued a few days ago, and that some of the MVC’s recommendations are financial.

“In some of these homes that are suffering, the air flow systems in some of these (veterans) homes contribute to viruses spreading, not just the coronavirus but other potential viruses, so trying to get these positive-negative air flow systems figured out in the homes will be the bigger challenge,” Kehoe says.

The MVC says 87 veterans living in state veterans homes have died from COVID, since September 1. That includes 12 deaths in the past 12 days at the home in northwest Missouri’s Cameron.

“They’ve (MVC) come up with a list of some short-term things we can implement immediately, and I know the (Veterans) Commission and the Veterans administration is working on that as we speak,” says Kehoe.

Lt. Governor Kehoe says the top priority for both he and the governor is protecting veterans living in state veterans homes. Kehoe emphasizes that the state’s veterans homes suffer some of the same challenges that other long-term care facilities do.

“It’s a vulnerable population,” Kehoe says. “You have employees and vendors in those homes that actually go out and maybe have another job, or go out to their families and could contract the virus and bring it back in.”

Kehoe says the MVC is working to implement procedures to stop any leaks like that. The state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) says 75 percent of Missouri’s COVID deaths happen in nursing homes.

MVC says Cape Girardeau’s state veterans home has had the highest number of deaths since September, with 29. Cameron is second with 22. There have been 19 deaths at the St. James facility, nine at Mount Vernon, seven in Warrensburg and one in Mexico.

MVC spokesman Jamie Melchert says all of MVC’s veterans homes are following best practices for fighting COVID, as prescribed by the CDC and the state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS). He says that includes daily testing, using PCR and antigen testing. It also includes proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE), cleaning and disinfecting and enhanced training in those areas.

Melchert says infection control inspections and additional infection control training procedures are in place at all facilities.

He also says Armstrong Teasdale’s external review is continuing, noting they’re conducting interviews at all seven homes and at the commission’s Jefferson City headquarters.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with Missouri Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe, which was recorded on November 3, 2020 in Jefferson City:

MVC: 12 more COVID deaths at veterans home in northern Missouri’s Cameron

November 3, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

12 more veterans have died from COVID at the state veterans home in northwest Missouri’s Cameron.

Missouri Capitol

The Missouri Veterans Commission (MVC) says 12 more veterans have died at the Cameron home in the past ten days, bringing the total number of COVID deaths there to 22, since September 1.

MVC spokesman Jamie Melchert tells Missourinet that a total of 87 veterans living in state veterans homes have died from COVID since September 1. Cape Girardeau has the highest number of deaths, with 29. Cameron is second with 22. There have been 19 deaths at the St. James facility, nine at Mount Vernon, seven in Warrensburg and one in Mexico.

Melchert says all of MVC’s veterans homes are following best practices for fighting COVID, as prescribed by the CDC and the state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS). He says that includes daily testing, using PCR and antigen testing. It also includes proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE), cleaning and disinfecting and enhanced training in those areas.

Melchert says infection control inspections and additional infection control training procedures are in place at all facilities.

He also says Armstrong Teasdale’s external review is continuing, noting they’re conducting interviews at all seven homes and at the commission’s Jefferson City headquarters.

MVC says it’s also utilizing staffing from the Missouri Disaster Medical Assistance Team, which is deployed to provide Missourians the medical care they need immediately.

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill, has emphasized to Missourinet that it’s important to get to the bottom of this. He has said that if changes need to be made, they should be made as quickly as possible.

Missouri’s Parson and Galloway to focus on their base in final day of gubernatorial campaign

November 1, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s two main gubernatorial candidates have busy schedules on Monday, one day before election day.

Governor Mike Parson (R) spoke Saturday at a rally in St. Peters with former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. That’s in St. Charles County, which has been a Republican stronghold. It’s an area Republicans need to do well on Tuesday.

The governor campaigns Monday in Jefferson City, St. Joseph, Kirksville, Palmyra, Cape Girardeau and Cassville, continuing his focus on rural towns. U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R) will join Parson at the Cassville event, in southwest Missouri.

Ann Dorn, the widow of slain St. Louis Police Captain David Dorn, will join Parson on Monday’s tour, along with former gubernatorial candidate John Brunner and the Missouri Cattlemen’s Association’s Mike Deering.

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Nicole Galloway, the state auditor, attended two church services Sunday in St. Louis. She also met with Democrats in St. Louis City and St. Louis County, two jurisdictions that are crucial to Democratic success in statewide races.

Galloway will begin Monday in Columbia, where she will attend a literature drop launch with area Democrats. She also speaks at the Missouri Democratic Party’s election eve rally Monday evening in Kansas City. It will feature all of the party’s statewide candidates: Alissia Canady, Yinka Faleti, Rich Finneran and Vicki Englund.

Galloway continues to focus on hospital closings, noting ten rural Missouri hospitals have closed since 2014.

Parson is focusing on rural values and experience.

Polls will be open Tuesday statewide from 6 a.m. until 7 p.m. The Secretary of State’s office says a combined total of 723,058 mail-in and absentee ballots have already been returned to Missouri election authorities. Most of those are absentee ballots.

Flood watch issued for much of southeast Missouri; Cape Girardeau and Poplar Bluff in watch area (AUDIO)

October 28, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Most of southeast Missouri will be under a flood watch from 7 o’clock tonight until 10 Thursday morning. National Weather Service (NWS) Paducah meteorologist Sean Poulos tells Missourinet that Cape Girardeau, Sikeston, Poplar Bluff and Dexter are in the watch area.

The National Weather Service (NWS) in Paducah has issued a flood watch for southeast Missouri from 7 p.m. on Wednesday until 10 a.m. on Thursday (October 28, 2020 map courtesy of NWS Paducah Twitter page)

“We’re anticipating rain moving up into those areas here later this afternoon and continuing pretty heavy this evening into the overnight hours, and then gradually trying to lessen in intensity as we get through the day tomorrow,” Poulos says.

New Madrid and Doniphan are also included in the flood watch area.

The NWS warns southeast Missouri could see three to four inches of additional rain, with the ground already saturated. Flooding is likely in low-lying and poor drainage areas.

“We’re concerned with flooding, especially in areas that get over three inches,” says Poulos. “In southeast Missouri we have a lot of low-lying, hilly terrain out there.”

The NWS is urging motorists who are traveling in southeast Missouri tonight and overnight to be careful, noting flooded roadways are hard to see in the dark.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with National Weather Service (NWS) Paducah meteorologist Sean Poulos, which was recorded on October 28, 2020:

Hawley disturbed by COVID-19 deaths at Missouri veterans homes; MO DMAT-1 team now deployed (AUDIO/VIDEO)

October 26, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

A Missouri senator who serves on the Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill is closely tracking the increasing number of COVID-19 deaths at state veterans homes.

Missouri Senator Josh Hawley (2020 file photo courtesy of Senator Hawley’s office)

The Missouri Veterans Commission (MVC) says four more veterans died last week, bringing the total number of deaths at the homes to 71, since September 1. U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R) tells Missourinet that to lose anyone to COVID is a tragedy, and to lose 71 veterans in veterans homes is disturbing.

“It’s very, very concerning and I’m glad that the governor has taken this action to order a review, an investigation, and I look forward to the results of that,” Hawley says.

The MVC says three of the new deaths happened at the home in northwest Missouri’s Cameron, where 34 veterans currently have COVID. MVC says ten Cameron staff members are in isolation in their homes, and another 20 staff members there have recovered.

MVC confirms it’s now utilizing medical staffing from the Missouri Disaster Medical Assistance Team (MO DMAT-1), which is deployed to provide Missourians the medical care they need immediately.

As for Senator Hawley, he emphasizes it’s important to get to the bottom of this.

“I look forward to action being taken to make sure that the standards of care are at the highest possible level. We owe that to our veterans,” says Hawley.

He also says that if changes need to be made, they should be made as quickly as possible.

MVC says there are now 12 veterans with active cases at the veterans homes in southern Missouri’s Mount Vernon and St. James. At Mount Vernon, six staff members are in isolation in their homes, and 21 staff members have recovered. At the St. James facility, four staff members are in isolation at home, and 18 staff members have recovered.

The veterans home in southeast Missouri’s Cape Girardeau has had the largest number of deaths since September 1, with 29. MVC says 44 Cape Girardeau staff members have recovered.

MVC spokesman Jamie Melchert says the MVC’s veterans homes are following best practices for battling COVID, including using daily testing using PCR and antigen testing. He says MVC is also focusing on enhanced personal protective equipment (PPE) training, as well as cleaning and disinfecting. Central office leadership from Jefferson City is also providing some additional supervision.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson tells Missourinet that he acted immediately when he learned about the spike in deaths at veterans homes, ordering an external review. The governor has said that the box-in strategy is being used, which involves testing, contact tracing, isolation and quarantine.

Mr. Melchert notes MVC commissioners selected St. Louis-based Armstrong Teasdale as the outside firm undertaking the external review of the Veterans Commission. He says Armstrong Teasdale is conducting staff interviews at the homes, and that no findings have been made available, at this time.

67 veterans at Missouri veterans homes have died from COVID-19 since September 1

October 21, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Another 11 veterans living in Missouri veterans homes have died due to COVID-19 in the past week, bringing the total number of deaths to 67 since September 1.

Missourinet followed-up Tuesday with the Missouri Veterans Commission (MVC), on the number of deaths since September, broken down by facility. The Missouri Veterans Commission reports 29 of the 67 deaths have been veterans living at the Cape Girardeau Veterans home. That’s in southeast Missouri. 15 veterans at the St. James home in southern Missouri have died.

The MVC reports nine deaths since September 1, at the Mount Vernon Veterans Home in southwest Missouri. There have been seven deaths each at the Cameron Veterans Home in northwest Missouri, and the Warrensburg home in western Missouri.

In response to questions from Missourinet on why the deaths have happened and if anything has changed at veterans homes, an MVC spokesman says they work with local county health departments to undertake contact tracing, adding that specific health information is not releasable under HIPPA provisions.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson told Capitol reporters last week that he acted immediately when he learned about the spike in deaths at veterans homes, ordering an external review. The governor says the box-in strategy is being used, which involves testing, contact tracing, isolation and quarantine.

MVC spokesman Jamie Melchert notes MVC commissioners selected St. Louis-based Armstrong Teasdale as the outside firm undertaking the external review of the Veterans Commission. He says the staff was informed of the selection on October 12, and the investigation is underway, with staff interviews at the homes. Melchert says no results are available, at this time.

Melchert also says outside visits are allowed at facilities that are COVID-free, such as the Mexico and St. Louis Veterans Homes.

The MVC website notes the Missouri veterans homes manage about 1,240 beds that provide long term skilled nursing care, in compliance with federal Department of Veterans Affairs regulations.

Governor Parson says box-in strategy is being used at Missouri veterans homes

October 16, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s governor says he acted immediately when he learned about the spike in COVID-19 deaths at veterans homes, ordering an external review.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson briefs Capitol reporters in Jefferson City on October 15, 2020 (photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

Governor Mike Parson made his comments during a Thursday press conference at the Statehouse in Jefferson City, in response to questions from Missourinet. He says the state was leading the nation in the way we were taking care of veterans in the veterans homes. He says they noticed a high spike in a few veterans homes, which raised red flags.

“We immediately, once we found that information out, we reached out to the (Missouri) Veterans Commission. We asked for an investigation. That investigation is taking place, or has taken place,” Parson says.

The Missouri Veterans Commission says 56 veterans have died from COVID in Missouri, since September 1. Veterans Commission spokesman Jamie Melchert told Missourinet this week that the veterans home in southeast Missouri’s Cape Girardeau has had the most deaths: 25. Melchert says 13 veterans from the Mount Vernon Veterans Home have died, and 12 from the St. James Veterans Home.

“We immediately sent in our box-in strategy,” says Governor Parson. “We put testing supplies in the veterans (homes) to a tune of about 3,000 that are out there now, trying to really take care of that situation. But it was unfortunate that it happened, it was definitely a red flag, the way it happened.”

White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx has praised Missouri’s “box-in” strategy. The “box-in” testing strategy involves testing, contact tracing, isolation and quarantine.

The Veterans Commission has obtained additional staffing and resources from the federal government, to assist the Cape Girardeau and St. James homes.

Legislative panel approves a planned $25 million hospital in southeast Missouri (Update)

September 15, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

New hospital site plan from certificate of need proposal

A proposed new hospital project in Kennett cleared a major hurdle Monday in Jefferson City. The Missouri Facilities Review Committee approved a certificate of need application on the proposed 49-bed acute care full-service hospital by Mainstreet HealthVentures.

Mainstreet HealthVentures consultant Kerry Noble told Missourinet affiliate KBOA that the construction could set an example.

“I think it will be a showplace for smaller rural hospitals who are trying to work out of old, antiquated, outdated facilities to use as a model,” Noble said.

The Georgia-based company submitted a 62-page certificate of need application for the project. They plan to demolish the former Twin Rivers Regional Medical Center, which closed in 2018.

The hospital will open on May 1, 2022, according to the plan. It will be about 70,000 square feet. There would be 37 adult acute beds, six pediatric acute beds, and six intensive care unit beds.

Plans also call for a 24-hour emergency room with seven beds and an urgent care clinic for non-emergency patients. The new hospital will also include a four-room inpatient/outpatient surgical suite, with a surgical recovery unit. It also will have a 24-hour clinical lab and 24-hour medical imaging, including CT and MRI.

State lawmakers from across southeast Missouri have written letters supporting the planned new hospital. State Rep. Herman Morse, R-Dexter, the House Special Committee on Aging’s vice chairman, notes Kennett has a large elderly population.

“That hospital (Twin Rivers) was the only hospital that was actually in Dunklin County. The other closest places are Paragould, Arkansas or Piggott, Arkansas, which is an 18-bed facility I believe,” Morse says.

Kennett residents now have to drive to Arkansas, Cape Girardeau, Sikeston or Poplar Bluff for emergency room care and for hospitalization. Supporters of the new hospital say it will help about 70,000 residents across southeast Missouri and northeast Arkansas.

Representative Morse, whose wife graduated from Kennett High School, tells Missourinet that Dunklin County must have a functioning hospital. He says Paragould, Jonesboro, Hayti and and Poplar Bluff are too far from Kennett, in an emergency.

“Jonesboro is almost 50 miles from Kennett. And so, it’s just difficult, and I think there would be lives lost in just not having the hospital that close,” says Morse.

State Sen. Doug Libla, R-Poplar Bluff, and State Reps. Andrew McDaniel, R-Deering and Dale Wright, R-Farmington, have also written letters in support of the new hospital plan.

Kennett is located in the Bootheel, the state’s poorest region. There have been five hospital closings in southeast Missouri since 2014, including Kennett.

Noble, also a former chief executive officer at the Pemiscot Memorial Hospital in Hayti, said building a brand-new facility is best for safety code requirements.

Kennett Mayor Chancellor Wayne also backs the new hospital plan, describing it as a big step forward for health care in Kennett and southeast Missouri.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full four-minute interview with State Rep. Herman Morse, R-Dexter, about the planned $25 million hospital project in southeast Missouri’s Kennett on August 12, 2020:

Rural Missouri prosecutor: victim tampering “happens everywhere, even in little Johnson County”

August 21, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Legislation that increases penalties for witness and victim tampering will go to the Missouri House floor in Jefferson City on Monday, after being approved by the Judiciary Committee on a 17-0 vote this week.

State Rep. Barry Hovis, R-Cape Girardeau, testifies before the Missouri House Judiciary Committee on August 17, 2020 (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

The prosecutor in western Missouri’s Johnson County traveled from Warrensburg to Jefferson City to testify for the bill, saying that witness and victim tampering happens across the state.

“And we find that those who commit violent offenses are not afraid to use intimidation, harassment, threats and more violence to escape justice for what they do,” Johnson County Prosecutor Robert Russell says.

Russell, who serves as treasurer for the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, says witness and victim tampering happen frequently in homicide and domestic violence cases.

“Victim tampering is a problem not unique to the cities of Missouri. It happens everywhere, even in little Johnson County,” Russell testifies.

Johnson County is southeast of Kansas City.

The measure is a key part of Governor Mike Parson’s special session call on violent crime.

The Missouri Police Chiefs Association and the Missouri Sheriff’s Association also testified for the bill this week. State Rep. Barry Hovis, R-Cape Girardeau, the bill sponsor, served as a law enforcement officer for more than 30 years.

The Hovis bill, which is House bill 2, specifies that the offense of tampering with a witness or a victim is a class C felony, if the original charge is a class A felony or an unclassified felony. It’s currently a class D felony, under state law.

Representative Hovis tells Judiciary Committee members that the bill was unanimously approved in committee this spring. He says the Legislature would have approved it, but that the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the General Assembly’s time frame.

Another piece of legislation that goes to the Missouri House on Monday involves witness protection.

The Judiciary Committee voted 17-0 this week for witness protection legislation from State Rep. Jonathan Patterson, R-Lee’s Summit. It would create a pretrial witness protection services fund, to be administered by the state Department of Public Safety (DPS) to law enforcement agencies.

The money would be used to provide security to witnesses, potential witnesses and their immediate families in criminal proceedings or investigations.