Veterans centers improving after outbreaks

Oklahoma's seven veterans centers are “on the road” to resume many normal activities after a battle with COVID-19.

As residents and staff receive vaccinations, the centers will be reopening and accepting new admissions, Joel Kintsel, Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs executive director, told a state Senate panel Thursday.

Some 155 residents died after testing positive for COVID-19, but the virus may not have been responsible for all the deaths, Kintsel said.

Several centers saw significant outbreaks. Officials initially cut off visitation.

The centers saw a severe downturn in population after not allowing new residents to be admitted and requiring three bed spaces to quarantine one resident, Kintsel said.

“The fact of the matter is we were the leaders really in the long-term care industry in Oklahoma in terms of shutting down,” he said. “It was a difficult decision at the time. We did take some criticism. But I think in retrospect, it was the right thing to do.”

The centers have a maximum capacity of 1,423 beds and a population of 831, he said. “We are much, much lower than we would normally be.”

The agency also has a large staffing shortage, he said. The agency is meeting regulatory staffing minimums, but the agency is not near staffing levels it saw prior to COVID-19.

State Sen. Frank Simpson, R-Springer, asked about the reasons behind the shortage, saying he knew staff members were reporting a lot of overtime.

Kintsel said it is a combination of factors.

“I think they are worn out,” he said. “There is not much opportunity to take time off because the tighter your staffing numbers get, the more you ask of the people who are still there.”

In addition, it is hard to compete with the private sector, which is offering large monetary incentives, Kintsel said. Some also are scared to work in an environment where they might encounter COVID-19.

As vaccinations become more prevalent, the agency will start again admitting veterans to the centers, he said.

All seven centers have received the first round of vaccinations, Kintsel said.

“We are encouraged that we are at the end of the road in terms of COVID outbreaks,” he said. “All seven centers are on the road to having everyone vaccinated and being about to reopen and return to normality.”