| Public Release Date: July 10, 1996 | No. 96-28 |
The Minnesota Veterans Home - Luverne is one of four Minnesota Veterans Homes under the direct management of the Veterans Home Board. The board consists of nine voting members appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the state senate. The Veterans Home Board appointed Ms. Pamela Barrows as the administrator of the Luverne home.
This newly constructed facility was completed in December 1993. The home admitted its first residents in January 1994. The home reached its capacity of 85 residents in October 1995. Residents of the home must be either military veterans, or the spouses or widows of military veterans, who require skilled nursing care. The home funds its operations through state appropriations, federal per diem payments, and resident maintenance payments.
Our audit objectives were to obtain an understanding of management controls relevant to payroll, resident maintenance fees, federal per diem reimbursements, supplies and material purchases, fixed asset purchases, resident receipt and disbursement accounts and gift receipts and purchases. We also designed our audit to provide reasonable assurance that the Luverne home complied with provisions of laws and regulations.
The Luverne home adequately documented and correctly calculated resident maintenance fees and federal per diem reimbursements. Eligibility determination procedures and the methodology used in calculating resident maintenance fees are in compliance with statutory and rule provisions. The home used the authorized cost of care rate. The home properly records and deposits resident maintenance fees and federal per diem reimbursements. The Luverne home processed its payroll in accordance with state policies and procedures and bargaining unit agreements. The home purchased supplies, materials and parts appropriate to the operation of the facility and in accordance with applicable purchasing and payment procedures. The home purchased capital equipment in accordance with applicable purchasing and payment procedures and maintains an adequate inventory record of these assets.
We found that the home securely safeguarded resident funds, promptly and accurately recorded resident deposits and withdrawals, and reconciled the balances on a regular and timely basis. We also concluded that purchases from gift funds were appropriate to the operation of the home and in accordance with the designation of the donors. The Luverne home followed applicable purchasing and accounting procedures over gift fund purchases, recorded gift fund transactions accurately on the statewide accounting system, and properly inventoried gift fund assets.
