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COVID killed more than 200 residents and staff at New Jersey's veterans’ homes, which was among the highest in the entire country.
The pandemic claimed a total of 103 residents at the Memorial Veterans Home in Edison and 89 at the Paramus Veterans Memorial Home, according to New Jersey's Department of Health.
The state to this point has paid nearly $70 million to settle lawsuits filed by the families of the deceased at the Paramus and Menlo Park facilities.
Meanwhile, federal authorities conducted an investigation that found that residents at those veterans homes faced "unreasonable harm and risk due to inadequate infection control practices and inadequate medical care, in violation of the U.S. Constitution," U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said on Sept. 7.
Inadequate infection control practices and medical care were "compounded by a lack of effective management and oversight," a release from the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division and Sellinger's office said Thursday.
"Such deficiencies expose residents to uncontrolled, serious and deadly infections and have resulted in the veterans’ homes suffering among the highest number of resident deaths of all similarly sized facilities in the region," it adds.
The responsibility falls to the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, which provides long-term nursing care to veterans and their families at the facilities.
Federal authorities are giving the department the opportunity to remediate the problems or face severe consequences.
"We look forward to working with the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs to improve the conditions in these homes they operate and ensure these veterans and their families receive the care they need and deserve," Assistant U.S. Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said.
“Those who served to protect this nation and their families are entitled to appropriate care when they reside at a veterans’ home,” Sellinger said.
"These conditions must swiftly be addressed to ensure that our veterans and their families at these facilities receive the care they so richly deserve," he added. "We will not stop working until they do.”
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