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Weeks after Gov. Wes Moore announced that he’ll replace the private contractor running the state’s only veterans home, the state employee responsible for the home’s oversight has resigned, a spokesperson for the governor confirmed.
The Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs accepted the resignation of Michelle Cariaso on March 27, Moore spokesperson Brittany Marshall said in a statement. Cariaso had served as director of Charlotte Hall Veterans Home since September 2021.
Cariaso’s biography and photo have been removed from websites for the Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs and the veterans home. Cariaso did not respond to efforts to reach her through social media.
The Moore administration did not say whether Cariaso’s departure was related to recent reports of longstanding abuse and neglect.
The Veterans Affairs Department, led by Secretary Anthony Woods, “is now recruiting for a new director to lead Charlotte Hall Veterans Home in its transformation,” Marshall said in a statement.
During the transition, Cariaso’s predecessor, Sharon Murphy, will serve as interim director “until a suitable permanent director is named,” Marshall said. Murphy had retired as director in 2021 after first being appointed to the role in 2008.
Cariaso’s departure comes weeks after reports of longstanding abuse and neglect at Charlotte Hall Veterans Home surfaced. However, inspection reports also revealed deficiencies overlapping Murphy’s tenure.
Online inspection reports maintained by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency responsible for administering public health insurance, cited incidents of abuse and neglect spanning from 2018 through January 2023 that said patients were not kept safe from each other and from staff.
In a 2018 incident, a patient with documented confusion who was permitted to smoke tobacco lit himself on fire while left unattended. In one 2022 incident a geriatric nursing assistant dislocated the thumb of a patient during a confrontation over a pillow.
Appointed by then-Veterans Affairs Secretary George W. Owings III, Cariaso served as an on-site resident advocate for patient concerns, had multiple fiscal responsibilities and was responsible for ensuring compliance with state and federal regulations, according to her biography, which still appears on internet archives.
The director of Charlotte Hall oversees the home on behalf of the state. However, private contractor HMR of Maryland LLC, the company Moore will replace, has run the day-to-day operations of the home for over 20 years.
Owings, who led the agency from 2015 to 2023, took responsibility for the worsening conditions at the hall as the federal quality rating fell from four stars to one star while he served under former Gov. Larry Hogan.
Senior Hogan officials said they knew of the deficiencies and took measures to hold the private company accountable, according to Hogan spokesperson David Weinman in response to previous requests for comment.
Weinman, who did not work in the Hogan administration, has previously said the failings were “widely-known, well-documented, and subject to strong corrective action requirements. Governor Hogan’s administration took significant steps to hold the vendor accountable and correct documented deficiencies, while providing increased oversight.” Weinman prepared the statement in consultation with top Hogan officials.
Vice President of HMR of Maryland LLC Russell Keogler has previously said his company worked in partnership with the Hogan administration “to ensure any concerns were immediately addressed,” and that “Charlotte Hall Veterans Home remained in compliance with state and federal standards.”
“Our number one priority continues to be caring for the health and well-being of our veterans and staff, and this priority will continue throughout the transition,” Keogler said in a statement.
Gov. Wes Moore in March called the conditions and treatment of veterans at the home a “moral failure of government.”
“While this treatment has been longstanding, it is also now going to stop. ” ‘Thank you for your service’ cannot be a punchline or an empty phrase,” Moore said during a March spending board meeting.
Moore’s statements and the details revealed in the inspection reports moved bipartisan legislators to introduce emergency bills days before the end of the 90-day legislative session. Democratic Del. Brian Crosby, a U.S. Army veteran, and Sen. Jack Bailey, a Republican, introduced legislation that would require operators of state-owned nursing homes to report any citations from inspectors and fines to state officials within 30 days. The bill would also require the health department to submit reports on nursing home deficiencies.
All 47 senators co-sponsored Bailey’s bill.
The Moore administration has since hired a team of nurses to perform health and wellness assessments of residents. As of last week, a total of 125 health and wellness assessments had been completed.
This story may be updated.
brenda.wintrode@thebaltimorebanner.com
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Brenda Wintrode covers state government, agencies and politics. Before joining The Baltimore Banner, Wintrode wrote an award winning series of long form investigations for Wisconsin Watch.
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