Governor strips VA director of nursing home oversight

March 26, 2007
Governor strips VA director of nursing home oversight

Gov. Janet Napolitano on Monday removed the director of the State Department of Veterans Services from running a veterans' nursing home that was fined this month for patient neglect.

Patrick Chorpenning will stay on as director, but will not have any responsibility over the Arizona State Veterans Home in Phoenix where some of the state's oldest veterans are cared for, said Jeanine L'Ecuyer, a spokeswoman for the governor.

The nursing home is the department's top priority, accounting for $12 million of the department's $18 million budget and offering long-term care for as many as 200 patients, most of whom are World War II and Korean War veterans.