A bipartisan committee of lawmakers voted unanimously Friday to launch a preliminary investigation into the monetary administration and accounting practices on the Maine Veterans’ Houses.
The director of the state’s watchdog company instructed lawmakers a whistleblower ready to find out about these points got here ahead with allegations of economic issues, though no particulars have been made public Friday. An legal professional representing the Maine Veterans’ Houses board of trustees has indicated that it might conduct its personal investigation.
Peter Schleck, the director of the nonpartisan Workplace of Program Analysis and Authorities Accountability, mentioned the previous worker, who was dismissed by the group, was a part of “the general monetary operations and management construction” of the properties.
“She is expressing a spread of issues about their monetary or accounting practices. She is keen to go on the file in that sense,” Schleck mentioned. “That is the kind of subject the place we wish to ensure we do our due diligence.”
The bipartisan Authorities Oversight Committee directed Schleck to analyze the allegations.
Oversight committee chairman Sen. Craig Hickman, who additionally leads the Veterans and Authorized Affairs Committee, mentioned the investigation was warranted given the monetary struggles of the properties, two of which have been slated to shut final yr till the Legislature intervened and allotted further funding.
“We all know this Legislature has achieved all that it might to maintain the Maine veterans properties open as a result of we all know how vital they’re,” mentioned Hickman, D-Winthrop. “However we do have a regarding subject that has come earlier than us.”
Assistant Home Minority Rep. Amy Arata, R-New Gloucester, mentioned after the assembly that she was “very involved that this very important service for our veterans is effectively run. I look ahead to acquiring extra info.”
The oversight committee was given a letter from an legal professional representing the board of trustees despatched to the previous worker, saying they have been launching an investigation.
“I’m in receipt of your shopper’s 11/10 paperwork titled ‘MVH disclosures’ and reveals,” wrote Richard Moon, an legal professional on the Portland-based Verrill regulation agency. “The documentation has been shared with Board Chair Adria Horn and an investigation will happen.”
Final yr, the board voted to shut properties in Caribou and Machias. Lawmakers scrambled to provide you with funding to maintain the properties open. The Legislature accredited a invoice sponsored by Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, offering $3.5 million in funding to maintain the properties open. The invoice was signed into regulation by Gov. Janet Mills.
The regulation additionally laid out a public course of for potential closures, together with legislative approval, and set in statute the place every of the state’s six properties ought to be situated, in line with the governor’s workplace.
Final December, members of the state’s congressional delegation — Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, Impartial Sen. Angus King, and Rep. Jared Golden, D-2nd District — introduced one other $3 million in funding for the Maine Veterans’ Houses within the federal omnibus spending invoice. The cash would pay for renovations and life security upgrades.
“Maine Veterans’ Houses offers compassionate, high quality long-term care to the courageous women and men who served our nation,” they mentioned in a joint launch. “At a time when there may be already a extreme scarcity of nursing house beds, MVH’s services in rural components of our state fill a vital want and permit Maine veterans to stay near their family members. These investments will assist MVH carry out essential upkeep and upgrades to make sure that these properties stay secure for residents.”
The Maine Veterans’ Houses have been established by the Maine Legislature in 1977 as a state-chartered nonprofit to offer long-term care to veterans and eligible navy spouses. The Maine Veterans’ Houses now operates six services all through the state situated in Augusta, Caribou, Bangor, Machias, Scarborough, and South Paris.
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