Head of Missouri Veterans Commission Resigns After COVID-19 Report
U.S. Air Force Veteran Robert Aucoin, 78, arrives at the main lobby inside Soldiers Home in Holyoke for his COVID-19 vaccine dose in Holyoke, Mass., Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020. (Hoang Leon Nguyen/The Republican via AP)
2 Jan 2021
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) The chairman of the Missouri Veterans Commission resigned after releasing an investigative report that criticized the commission for its response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed more than 140 lives at seven veteran nursing homes since September.
Tim Noonan told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Thursday that he was resigning, citing comments Gov. Mike Parson made this week about the veterans and the commission.
JEFFERSON CITY â A just-released investigative report on Missouri veterans nursing homes sheds new light on how top government officials first reacted â and didnât react â to information about the spreading danger of COVID-19 at the state-run facilities.
According to the report, released Thursday evening, Michele Renkemeyer, operational excellence leader with the Department of Social Services, said members of the stateâs âFusion Cellâ virus hub were âwell aware of positives and deaths as early as mid-August well into the beginning of September.â
Her statement appears to contradict those made by other top state officials coordinating Missouriâs response to the coronavirus. They told investigators they didnât recognize a problem at the Missouri Veterans Commissionâs seven homes until late September at the earliest.
By JACK SUNTRUP | The St. Louis Post-Dispatch | Published: January 1, 2021
Stars and Stripes is making stories on the coronavirus pandemic available free of charge. See other free reports here. Sign up for our daily coronavirus newsletter here. Please support our journalism with a subscription. JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Tribune News Service) A just-released investigative report on Missouri veterans nursing homes sheds new light on how top government officials first reacted and didn t react to information about the spreading danger of COVID-19 at the state-run facilities. According to the report, released Thursday evening, Michele Renkemeyer, operational excellence leader with the Department of Social Services, said members of the state s Fusion Cell virus hub were well aware of positives and deaths as early as mid-August well into the beginning of September.
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