King veterans home could receive more staff

KING - Veterans who live at an area home could get some extra help.

Governor Scott Walker agreed to the Department of Veterans Affairs' request for more nursing staff at the state-run facility in King, just outside of Waupaca.

For the upcoming 2013-2015 budget, almost 80 new nursing staff positions are being proposed.

Some veterans who live at the home say they welcome the help.

"They need them, they need them," said Vietnam War Navy veteran James Ross.

Ross has been living at the King Veterans Home for the last three years. The former aircraft handler aboard the aircraft carrier USS Franklin D. Roosevelt says he has no issues with his level of care, but is concerned about the amount of work the staff must do to, especially for the older veterans.

“You see guys who can't walk, and the nurses have to run from this floor to that floor," said Ross in a deep, throaty voice. "When the girls are complaining – and me, there's nothing I can do. I'm just a veteran."

The home currently has a population of about 700 people and a capacity of 721 beds.

Administrators say the increase in nursing staff is needed to address the expected increase in older vets needing specialized care.

"What we are seeing is that members who are coming to live here are coming later in life, people are choosing to stay home longer, or perhaps in another living situation," said King Veterans Home commandant Mary Hansen.

In the upcoming budget, more than $9 million would be spent to create almost 80 new nurses and nurse assistants, adding to the roughly 500 already on site.

Staffing levels have been a concern to the state employees union, arguing workers were forced to work 60-plus hour weeks.

"Allowing ourselves to grow the staff at the home will allow us to better adhere to the needs of those veterans," said WDAV Deputy Secretary Michael Trepanier in a phone interview with FOX 11.

Trepanier says the DVA had been looking for the funding for additional staff, but had not formally submitted it to Governor Scott Walker as a part of the budget process.

"But that did not mean that we weren't talking to the governor's office on a regular basis, trying to have pitched that this was something that was important for the growth of the home," said Trepanier.

To put the more than cost of the staffing request into perspective, Trepanier says it could be a part of a budget request totaling $276 million. But that and the rest of the budget must still be passed by the Republican-controlled legislature.