45.50 Veterans homes; management.

(1) Veterans Home at King. The department shall operate the Wisconsin Veterans Home at King and employ a commandant for the home.

(2b) Veterans Home at Union Grove. Subject to authorization under ss. 13.48 (10) and 20.924 (1), the department may construct or renovate and operate residential, treatment, and nursing care facilities, including a community-based residential facility, to be known as the Wisconsin Veterans Home at Union Grove. The department shall employ a commandant for the Wisconsin Veterans Home at Union Grove.

(2d) Veterans Home at Chippewa Falls. Subject to authorization under ss. 13.48 (10) and 20.924 (1), the department may develop, construct or renovate, and operate residential, treatment, and nursing care facilities and programs for veterans in northwestern Wisconsin, on the property of the Northern Wisconsin Center for the Developmentally Disabled in Chippewa Falls to be known as the Wisconsin Veterans Home at Chippewa Falls. The programs and facilities may include an assisted living facility, a skilled nursing facility, a medical clinic, an adult day health care center, an activities center, and a veterans assistance program. The department may employ a commandant for the Wisconsin Veterans Home at Chippewa Falls.

(2m) Services; staffing of homes.

(a) The department shall provide complete personal maintenance and medical care, including programs and facilities that promote comfort, recreation, well-being, or rehabilitation, to all members of veterans homes.

(b) The department may employ any personnel that are necessary for the proper management and operation of veterans homes. In compliance with the compensation plan established pursuant to s. 230.12 (3), a commandant may recommend to the director of personnel charges for meals, living quarters, laundry, and other services furnished to employees and members of the employees' family maintained at veterans homes.

(c) For the Wisconsin Veterans Home at Chippewa Falls, in lieu of the department employing personnel as authorized under par. (b) and providing the maintenance and medical care as specified in par. (a), the department may enter into an agreement with a private entity to operate the home and perform such management and care using personnel employed by the private entity.

(e) All moneys received as reimbursement for services to veterans homes employees or as payment for meals served to guests at veterans homes shall be accumulated in an account named “employee maintenance credits" and shall be paid into the general fund within one week after receipt and credited to the appropriation account under s. 20.485 (1) (gk). This paragraph does not apply to any agreement entered into pursuant to par. (c).

(f) The department may develop a program to provide stipends to individuals to attend school and receive the necessary credentials to become employed at veterans homes. If the department develops a stipend program under this paragraph, the department shall promulgate rules related to the program, including the application process, eligibility criteria, stipend amount, repayment provisions, and other provisions that the department determines are necessary to administer the program.

(3) Land acquisition. The department may acquire, by gift, purchase, or condemnation, lands necessary for the purposes of the veterans homes. Title to the lands shall be taken in the name of this state and shall be held by and for the uses and purposes of the veterans homes. No payment may be made out of the state treasury or otherwise for the land until the title has been examined and approved by the attorney general. Every such deed of conveyance shall be immediately recorded in the office of the proper register of deeds and filed with the secretary of state.

(4) Gifts and grants.

(a) The department may use moneys appropriated under s. 20.485 (1) (h) to purchase, erect, construct, or remodel buildings, to provide additions and improvements, to provide equipment, materials, supplies, and services necessary for the purposes of veterans homes, and for expenses that are necessary and incidental to acquisition of property under s. 45.51 (10) and (11).

(b) The department may accept gifts, bequests, grants, or donations of money or of property from private sources to be administered by the department for the purposes of veterans homes. All moneys received shall be paid into the general fund and appropriated as provided in s. 20.485 (1) (h). The department may not apply to the gifts and bequests fund interest on certificate of savings deposits for those members who do not receive maximum monthly retained income. The department shall establish for those persons upon their request individual accounts with savings and interest applied as the member requests.

(6) Water and sewer services.

(a) The department may enter into agreements for furnishing and charging for water and sewer service from facilities constructed at and for veterans homes to public and private properties lying in the immediate vicinity of veterans homes.

(b) Agreements under this subsection shall be drafted to hold harmless the department, to require all expense to be paid by the applicant, and to be terminable by the department when other water and sewer services become available to the applicant.

(7) Enforcement authority. A commandant and employees designated by the commandant may summarily arrest all persons within or upon the grounds of veterans homes who are guilty of any offense against the laws of this state or the rules governing veterans homes. For this purpose, a commandant and deputies have the power of constables.

(8) Fire fighting services. A fire department at a veterans home in response to emergency fire calls may make runs and render fire fighting service beyond the confines of a veterans home.

(10) Hospitals authorized. The department may establish a hospital at a veterans home. All hospitals established under this subsection may not have a total approved bed capacity, as defined in s. 150.01 (4m), greater than 16 beds. The approved bed capacity of a skilled nursing facility operated at a veterans home is reduced by one bed for each approved bed at the hospital established under this subsection at that home.

(11) Medical assistance assessment exemption. A Wisconsin veterans home is exempt from paying any assessment imposed on the licensed beds in the home under s. 50.14 (2) (am).

History: 2005 a. 22; 2011 a. 32; 2013 a. 20; 2017 a. 59.