JEFFERSON CITY — Family members of residents housed at any of the state's seven veterans nursing homes may call a hotline staffed by the law firm investigating the Missouri Veterans Commission, the commission said Thursday.
The St. Louis law firm Armstrong Teasdale is probing the commission after Gov. Mike Parson authorized an independent review in early October, following the deaths of dozens of veterans at multiple homes statewide.
Since September, 73 veteran nursing home residents housed across the state had died after contracting COVID-19, the commission said Monday. Updated figures Thursday were not immediately available.
The call-in number is 314-552-6665 and is only open to veterans' family members, a news release said.
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The line is open through Nov. 4. The release said family members should speak to Brian Kaveney, one of three co-leaders of the Armstrong Teasdale team.
Kaveney is a former U.S. Marine Corps infantry captain and former staff member in the Secretary of the Navy's office, according to bidding documents the law firm submitted to the state.
"Like the review itself, the call-in line is independent of the Missouri Veterans Commission and all comments related to COVID-19 from residents’ family members are welcome," the news release said.
The state could pay Armstrong Teasdale as much as $300,000 for the review, according to bidding documents.
Prior to Parson green-lighting the review, on Sept. 15, he visited the Mt. Vernon Veterans Home in southwest Missouri and said the state's veterans homes had set a nationwide standard. The next day, the facility reported its first case of COVID-19.
Nine veteran residents of the home had died of COVID-19 as of last week, according to the veterans commission.