Panel targeting Veterans Home

A legislative subcommittee amendment adopted Thursday could be the first step in either closing down or privatizing the Montana Veterans Home in Columbia Falls.

The Joint Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee passed the amendment to House Bill 2, the general appropriations bill that funds most state services.

It would require the state Department of Public Health and Human Services to do a request for proposals in 2013 for a private contractor to provide nursing home services at the historic campus that has served veterans since it began housing Civil War soldiers in 1897.

The amendment removes more than $2 million annually from the biennial state budget. The general appropriations bill typically is among the last bills considered by the Legislature, so neither the full House nor Senate have voted on the bill yet.

The subcommittee action, however, has prompted union officials to sound the alarm bell.

Eric Feaver, president of the Montana Education Association and Montana Federation of Teachers, the union that represents the 143 employees of the Montana Veterans Home, called the move “outrageous” in a press release issued late Thursday.

“Veterans deserve high-quality health care, and that is what is provided at Montana Veterans Home,” Feaver said, noting that the home is a five-star health-care facility — the highest ranking — “because it provides appropriate staffing, excellent specialized services to those who need them, and dedicated, qualified, experienced staff.”

Feaver earlier sent letters to employees of the Columbia Falls facility, apprising them of the privatization proposal and encouraging them to contact their legislators.

A subcommittee report on alternatives for funding the veterans home shows a $9.93 million state budget this fiscal year for the Columbia Falls facility and a work force of the equivalent of 143 full-time employees.

By comparison, the Eastern Montana Veterans Home in Glendive, which is operated by a contracted private provider, had a $1.67 million budget and one full-time employee to oversee the private contract.

The report outlines three options: closing the Montana Veterans Home, privatizing the state facility or budgeting the facility at the average cost of private facilities.

It notes that if the state were to close the home, federal per diem payments could not be used for vouchers at other area nursing homes, and the state still would have to repay construction costs for the special-care unit built a decade ago with federal and state money.

The state also would need to resolve questions related to the continuation of the home’s federal pharmacy program and costs associated with mothballing the campus.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.