The Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs recently fired two supervisors at the newly opened nursing home for veterans in North Little Rock, a department spokesman confirmed Thursday.
Rebecca Clark, the director of nursing, and Carrie Amber Havens, the recreational activities supervisor at the Arkansas State Veterans Home at North Little Rock, were fired because of "performance issues," said Sarah Jones, public affairs director at the state VA.
Clark, who was hired at the agency in May, was paid $66,999 annually. She was fired Feb. 27.
Havens was hired in November at a $34,999 salary. She was fired Wednesday, Jones said.
Attempts to contact both women were unsuccessful.
The firings are the latest in a series of setbacks for the agency since it took ownership of the state-of-the-art home at the end of last year.
The veterans home, which admitted its first occupant the last week of January, opened later than leaders had hoped because of construction and compliance delays. Then, once the home had accepted several residents, one of the eight cottages developed a problem with its heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system, resulting in the new residents moving to a different cottage.
Several days later, state VA Director Matt Snead resigned, citing a desire to take a break and pursue some personal goals.
His resignation came after his personal relationship with the department's personnel director, Sara Terry, became the focus of allegations of wrongdoing from within the agency. Both Snead and Terry have acknowledged the relationship, but both denied any wrongdoing.
The agency's cemetery director, Bill Wussick, was named interim director. He'll remain in place until Monday when Nate Todd, Gov. Asa Hutchinson's newly appointed director, takes the helm. Todd, a retired U.S. Army colonel, was the chief financial officer at the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System.
"We're going through a transition of powers, so there's some uneasiness," Jones said Thursday. "But the veterans [at the North Little Rock home] are loving the facility, and for me, that's the most important thing."
The campus is one of two veterans-oriented long-term-care facilities run by the state. The other is in Fayetteville. The central Arkansas home is the first in Arkansas built from the ground up with veterans in mind.
It employs a "small-home" design aimed at reducing the institutional feel. Rather than one large building, the veterans live in cottages of about 11 residents each.
Metro on 03/10/2017