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This
report addresses improvements made in the Department’s Veteran’s
Conservatorship/Guardianship and Veterans’ Services programs, and at the
Arizona State Veteran Home. First, the Department has made significant
improvements in how it administers and protects the assets of incapacitated
veterans, primarily by adding new staff, regularly reconciling client
accounts, reducing its backlog of decedent estates, and establishing better
controls to inventory and protect client assets. Additionally, the Department
corrected previously identified deficiencies related to the quality of
resident care and Medicare billing practices at the Arizona State Veteran
Home, and resolved concerns with the Department’s procurement function. The
Department has also initiated efforts to improve its nursing staff recruitment
and retention at the Home; however, while these efforts have produced some
success, turnover and nursing costs remain high. Finally, the Department
should adopt a time accounting system that more accurately determines the
portion of personnel costs that should be charged to the Home.
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