2 Top Officials Suspended at Veterans Nursing Home Hit by 37 COVID-19 Deaths – By Vinny Vella, Allison Steele and William Bender (The Philadelphia Inquirer) / May 28 2020
PHILADELPHIA — The head of the Pennsylvania-run Southeastern Veterans’ Center and a senior staffer there were placed on indefinite suspension Tuesday amid an investigation into operations at the nursing home, where dozens have died from the novel coronavirus, according to a state senator and sources at the facility.
Rohan Blackwood, the center’s commandant, and Deborah Mullane, the director of nursing, were asked to turn in their badges and escorted from the Chester County center Tuesday, the sources said.
Blackwood, 47, took over as commandant of the home for veterans and their spouses five years ago after a brief stint as executive director of the Phoebe Wyncote nursing home in Montgomery County. He had previously worked at a troubled nursing home in Lancaster County. His state salary is $119,453. Mullane is paid $122,113 a year.
Blackwood and his senior staff have come under scrutiny in recent weeks after articles in The Philadelphia Inquirer about how the coronavirus tore through the 238-bed home in East Vincent Township. Leaders of the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, which runs the home, have faced questions from state politicians and relatives of residents who died there.
Joan Nissley, a spokesperson for the department, said in an email, “While we do not comment on personnel matters, we can confirm the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs has named an Acting Commandant at our Southeastern Veterans’ Center.”
Continue to article: https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/05/28/2-top-officials-suspended-veterans-nursing-home-hit-37-covid-19-deaths.html
