GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A year after the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans was the subject of a bruising audit, a new survey finds the home is meeting almost all the standards required.
It’s some good news for the state Veterans Affairs Department on this weekend dedicated to those veterans who have paid the ultimate price.
The federal audit in February 2016 found a series of problems, including failing to check on patients, delayed prescriptions and failing to investigate complaints. This led to legislative hearings in Lansing and at the home in Grand Rapids where elected officials were outraged by what they heard.
Catherine Kooyers of Wyoming is not a veteran or a spouse of a veteran, but she has a special place in her heart for those who have served. She has been a tireless advocate for them over the past three years.
“We started going there every day, documenting stories and getting the records to prove because in the original days some of the stories were so outrageous, I couldn’t believe them myself,” Kooyers said. “We couldn’t work with the governor — he wouldn’t work with us, we couldn’t work with the legislators because they were told not to work with veterans and so to make the long story short, we escalated it to the federal AIG.”
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