Deputy Veterans Services Director Wendy Simons says veterans shouldn’t be worried about reports the Northern Nevada Veterans Home in Sparks failed its VA certification.
Some veterans had raised concerns saying they were told the failure was because of a “life safety” issue.
“It was really a paperwork issue,” she said.
The inspector wanted a more detailed checklist on the emergency lights in the home to ensure each of them worked properly.
The certification was denied, she said, because the process is basically pass-fail and if there is any problem, certification is withheld until the issue is resolved.
She said the home and its contractor Avalon had the problem fixed the same day and that she is in the process of getting a new inspection scheduled.
“We know that’s not going to be a problem,” she said..
Simons said the home has already passed the state health division inspection and the CMS inspection to qualify for Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement.
The Veterans Administration certification, she said, doesn’t stop the home from accepting more veterans as residents but that it won’t qualify for full per diem payments from the VA until that certification is complete.
Simons said that should happen in mid-October.
The home was funded by the 2015 Legislature after lawmakers and Gov. Brian Sandoval agreed to pre-fund the entire cost to get construction under way and then apply for the two-thirds federal share. It cost $47.4 million to build on the campus of the Northern Nevada Mental Health complex in Sparks.
The home opened in December 2018 and has already filled 25 of its 180 beds.
Simons said the federal government has already paid the state for the $32 million federal share of the total cost.
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