Casey among senators urging veterans probe

The group asks the Government Accountability Office to investigate a recent spate of deaths at VA homes.

A group of U.S. senators is seeking an investigation into the Department of Veterans Affairs’ oversight of homes for aging veterans amid a spate of coronavirus deaths at the state-run centers.

In a letter sent Tuesday, the senators asked the head of the Government Accountability Office to look into the VA and states’ roles in ensuring veterans get proper care at the homes and whether the agency or states have a system to “capture real time spikes in mortality rates,” among other things.

“Given the importance of State Veterans Homes in VA’s overall portfolio for providing institutional care to veterans and our ongoing concerns about VA’s role monitoring states’ operation of these facilities, we would like GAO to conduct a more detailed examination of VA’s oversight of State Veterans Homes’ quality of care,” wrote Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey of Massachusetts; Bob Casey of Pennsylvania; and Jon Tester of Montana, the ranking member of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

Their request comes as outrage builds over the death of more than 70 veterans sickened by the coronavirus at a home in Massachusetts. State and federal officials are now investigating the deaths at the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke, where an additional 80 veterans and 81 staff members have tested positive for the virus. It’s one of the deadliest known outbreaks at long-term care facilities in the U.S.

VA officials did not immediately respond Tuesday to an email seeking comment.