Interesting article posted recently. It has a feel of Dejavu to it. We have heard this before. In fact I have been hearing it since 2012. Yes the Grand Rapids Model was a failure, in part because of Michigan Politics and the congress's poor management of our states Veteran system which left Michigan in dead last place, 52 out of 52 regions, for taking care of our veterans. This resulted in an administration that was also totally mismanaged by unqualified people with little or no accountability or oversight being applied by the state legislature. Millions of dollars were lost and are still yet unaccounted for, among other problems that administration had. The result was a call for a total overhaul of our veterans system. And today we are still in 52nd place out of 52 regions. This is the 50 states and Guam and Puerto Rico.
And they still did not do it right. It was decided to follow the model of Tennessee, and move from 2 main facilities to smaller local ones, spread out throughout the state. A new management team to oversee the new model as well. Lots of money being spent. BUT was it spent wisely?
The Tennessee model is NON PROFIT. Michigan's model is FOR profit, and it shows. Anybody want to guess how much they are charging veterans per month to be at the Grand Rapids location? Better get out the Zeros, because it's over 10,000 a month.
Again with the new Veterans homes, poor management is resulting in delays and other problems. First, the Grand Rapids home resulted in one of the few remaining old growth forest areas being eliminated. The new "home" was built at the cost of millions of dollars, and is still not yet fully certified to have residents. Only one quarter of it has passed state inspections. They had a grand opening this last year, and here we are months later and it is still not fully functional. How much more is it going to cost taxpayers before they get it right?
They did manage to build a second home in Chesterfield, at a former military base. This place is located North East of Detroit on the edge of Lake Saint Clare and the Saint Clare River which separates Michigan from Canada. Not getting many reports as to how well it is doing or if they are fully functional yet.
Sens. Ed McBroom and Adam Hollier are proposing a generational investment in veterans with the construction of a new veterans home in Detroit and the replacement of the D.J. Jacobetti Home for Veterans in Marquette.
“Plans for both of these projects have been years in the making, and their construction was proposed by the 2016 Veterans Workgroup as a way to increase and improve the care our military veterans have earned through their service,” said McBroom, R-Waucedah Township. “The Michigan Veteran Facility Authority Board has included both of these projects as priorities since 2016 and now is the time to follow through.”
The Veterans Workgroup was created to address the shortfalls of the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans, with the establishment of the Michigan Veteran Facility Authority Board resulting from its recommendations. Since then, the authority board has overseen the construction of several facilities that now comply with federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services regulations, thus helping obtain essential funding to provide care to the state’s veterans.
“Wayne County has the state’s largest community of veterans and they deserve to have a facility near the Dingell VA,” Hollier said.
Ok so let me understand this correctly. They have one new facility in chesterfield which is just north of Detroit and now they want a 2nd one IN Detroit? They want it near the VA facility? Doesn't the federal VA already run a veterans home next to their VA facility in downtown Detroit? I am told they do.
I understand the need to do something with the Jacobetti home in Marquette, but do we need another home in Detroit when we we still have a region not being served in Michigan's North west, or in the upper part of the lower peninsula? Maybe that is where the other home should be built before we put another home in the Detroit area.
Here is a link to the article:
Senators call for Jacobetti home replacement, new home in detroit.
