Moving the state veterans home in Talihina is far from a done deal.
Senate Bill 544 directs the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs to build a new facility. Rep. Tommy Hardin said the legislature must sign off on that idea now; otherwise, hiring enough staff will remain a problem and occupancy will continue to fall, costing the state federal resources.
"We would like to move it to a place where we could provide the adequate staffing to make sure that we retain those 175 beds for the veterans of Oklahoma," Hardin said.
The state’s portion of a new veterans home, likely in Poteau, would be around $20 million. Hardin said if Oklahoma can’t commit now, the state will fall to the bottom of the federal funding list. SB544 was not approved in committee Wednesday, but it could still be passed out before April 13.
The facility has seen two recent deaths under strange circumstances and is dealing with staffing problems and mold issues. Rep. Brian Renegar said the only change since a 2015 report showing Talihina led all state veterans facilities in occupancy and staffing was putting former Adjutant General Myles Deering in charge of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
"There is an administrative problem for sure, and that's probably attributed to the staffing. But it's not at Talihina. It's at the ODVA," Renegar said.
Deering said he was brought in because of his leadership experience, not a health care background.
"We put people in place in an agency who has had problems for years. They didn't bring me over here because everything was going well," Deering said.
