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The "Mission Critical Team" members were deployed to the Menlo Park Veterans Memorial Home to "improve quality of care through mentoring, coaching, and sharing of operational and clinical best practices," the Murphy administration said in a release.
The home is apparently "not in substantial compliance" and funding may be withheld for new admissions by the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services unless gaps in infection control and resident care are fixed, NJ Advance Media reports.
The three-member team, which works within DOH’s Office of Long-Term Care Resiliency, includes an administrator and a nurse consultant – who have already arrived at the facility – and an infection control preventionist, who will join the other team members at Menlo Park on Nov. 28.
The team was requested by Brig. Gen. Lisa J. Hou, the Adjutant General of New Jersey and Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs "as another tool in the toolbox to continually improve the quality of care for our residents, evaluate our staff processes, and renew our dedication to the Veterans in our care," she said.
"My top priorities are to provide high-quality care to our residents, attract and retain qualified staff, and improve infection control in our facilities.”
The Mission Critical Team will spend a minimum of one month at the Menlo Park facility, reviewing all processes and embedding best practices for long-term and ongoing improvements. During this period, DOH's Infection Control Assessment & Response (ICAR) team will also be onsite to support resident and healthcare personnel safety and quality improvement.
Within the veterans memorial homes, the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs has continued to pursue modernization of health records systems to increase efficiency and accuracy, has implemented technological capabilities, and has worked with outside consultants in furtherance of these crucial goals.
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