MEXICO, Mo. — For the second year in a row, the Missouri Veterans Commission (MVC) has been awarded a federal grant through the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs to help bolster employment across the state’s seven veterans homes.
According to the commission, the grant allows for a one-time differential of $780 to be paid to full-time registered nurses (RN), senior licensed practical nurses (senior LPN), licensed practical nurses (LPN), senior support care assistants and support care assistants currently employed at Missouri veterans homes.
The grant also allows the $780 differential to be paid to candidates hired into those classifications between Dec. 16, 2023, and July 1.
The grant will benefit more employees this year. Last year, the grant was limited to senior support care assistants and support care assistants.
During fiscal year 2022, the Missouri Veterans Commission had a 55.2% vacancy rate for support care assistants and a 32% vacancy rate for senior support care assistants. In this same period, the commission saw a 104.8% turnover in support care assistants and 49.8% in senior support care assistants statewide.
During FY23, the vacancy rate improved but remained relatively high. There was a 53% vacancy rate for support care assistants, 18% for senior support care assistants, 13% for LPNs, and 24% for RNs.
Aimee Packard, the MVC director of public relations, said she thinks the combination of pay increases last year for all state team members and the differential for bedside care nursing team members did improve both retention and recruitment.
“We can also report our vacancies are lower than what they have been since 2021 across all seven veterans homes,” Packard said.
Mexico veterans home workers report improvements
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Tasine Hall, a CNA at the Missouri Veterans Home in Mexico, said she thinks the increased pay, paired with the differential has helped draw additional staff and boost retention.
“We’ve got a good team now,” Hall said. “I’m getting more of my team leader work done.”
There are 28 veterans who are on the waitlist for the Mexico facility. According to Packard, veterans are on the waitlist due to combination of staffing and space issues.
Like last year, Hall told KOMU 8 News that the extra income would go toward bills and her kids.
“It went to my bills, and then the rest of the [money was] spent on my grandkid and my daughter,” Hall said.
Nurse Robyn Hunsley joined the Mexico veterans home team in October. She said she’s had a fabulous experience so far.
“The teamwork here is unmatched,” Hunsley said. “The support that we get from leadership, they work right with us. If we need something they do their darndest to get it for us make it happen. It’s a wonderful, wonderful facility.”
She said the differential makes a difference.
“It does make a difference,” Hunsley said. “It just shows their appreciation, the Governor has been so wonderful to this facility. It’s a wonderful act of kindness that most facilities don’t get, most facilities do not get that kind of support.”