DOJ: New Jersey violated Constitution with veterans’ COVID care

A Department of Justice investigation into two New Jersey-run veterans homes concluded the state violated the Constitution during the COVID-19 pandemic by providing “inadequate” care to residents.

The 43-page report looking into veterans homes in Menlo Park and Paramus determined there were numerous failures, including poor communication and the lack of staff competency that allowed the virus to spread “virtually unchecked throughout the facilities. The DOJ concluded residents at the two homes “face unreasonable risk and harm,” citing poor infection control practices and medical care.

The investigation, which was conducted under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, found the lack of care “resulted in the veterans’ homes suffering among the highest number of resident deaths of all similarly sized facilities in the region.”

The death toll from the two veterans homes was “extraordinarily high” in 2020, the report stated. The Paramus veterans home had 37 residents die in two weeks in April 2020, which prompted the National Guard to be deployed there, according to NorthJersey.com.

In total, more than 200 residents of the homes died during the pandemic, but the report noted these deaths were likely undercounted “due to a failure to systematically monitor and document clinical symptoms of COVID for all residents during the early days of the pandemic.”

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) faced criticism for the state’s handling of the veterans homes, especially when it directed the homes to not turn away patients who tested positive for the virus in April 2020.

Murphy said in a statement the report was “deeply disturbing,” adding the treatment received by those residents was “unacceptable” and “appalling.”

“In an effort to provide our veterans with the care they deserve, over the past three years, our Administration has instituted numerous processes and procedures to improve conditions, including most recently securing private management and assistance for these two homes,” he said in the statement. “However, it is clear that we have significantly more work to do, and we are open to exploring all options to deliver for our veterans the high level of care they deserve and are entitled to under the law. We commend the Legislature for their partnership to help us improve conditions, and we will continue to work together in any capacity to provide world-class care and services to our heroes and support to those who care for them.”

Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) blasted the management of the veterans homes shortly after the DOJ released its report.

“This report issued today by the Justice Department lays out in exhaustive detail a chronicle of misdeeds at these homes that should enrage everybody in New Jersey,” Pascrell said. “What happened to our veterans was one of the terrible tragedies of the pandemic. Too many times residents at the facilities, seniors who fought for our country, have been left in brutal conditions.” 

“The incompetence, negligence, and outright recklessness by facility management led to loss of life,” he added.

The Associated Press contributed.