Our community was deeply distressed by the reports of residents being mistreated at Charlotte Hall Veterans Home that came out earlier this year. Since we first learned of these reports, the State has brought on a new contractor to operate the Veterans Home, and the General Assembly passed emergency legislation that I introduced to require increased reporting of deficiencies cited and enforcement actions imposed at State-owned nursing facilities.
I have also been working to find additional ways to support the veterans at Charlotte Hall and am proud to let you know about two additional initiatives to help bring the Veterans’ Home and our community together. First, the Veterans Home and the College of Southern Maryland are working to restart a partnership that would allow nursing students attending CSM to gain vital experience at the Veterans Home supporting our veterans who reside there. The second initiative is a partnership with St. Mary’s County Public Schools to recruit high school students to volunteer at the Veterans Home as part of fulfilling their service-learning requirement. I would like to recognize the efforts of Cathy Allen and Rita Weaver, who have worked as liaisons to re-establish these important partnerships with CSM and SMCPS, respectively. Supporting our veterans, both at Charlotte Hall and throughout our State, is one of my highest priorities in the Senate, and I look forward to continuing to work on these efforts going forward.