Veterans appear twice in this foundation’s work: as the people who conduct CareGuard’s facility reviews, and as people Valor Medica serves. Those are not the same relationship and it matters that they stay distinct.
What do veterans do in CareGuard’s facility reviews?
CareGuard’s safety review covers the physical plant of a skilled nursing or assisted living facility. That is a walk-through discipline: you go corridor by corridor and you look for the things that hurt people slowly — the handrail that stops six feet short of the door, the exit that is chained on second shift, the shower with no reachable call button, the floor that is wet at the same time every day because that is when the ice machine runs.
Veterans do that work here. The reason is not sentiment. A person who has walked a building with real consequences attached has a trained instinct for where a plan fails, and does not quietly skip the back corridor because the front one looked fine. How the review program works →
How does Valor Medica serve veterans?
Valor Medica provides medical care, mental health and recovery support and vocational training to veterans and neighbors experiencing homelessness. If you are a veteran who needs care, that division is the door, not this page.
Why veterans do this work
The argument for the choice, including the part that is about respect.
Frequently asked questions
Why do veterans conduct CareGuard’s facility reviews?
Because reading a building for what will go wrong in it is a skill they already have. A person who has walked a building with real consequences attached has a trained instinct for where a plan fails. That person does not quietly skip the back corridor because the front one looked fine. The reason is skill, not sentiment.
What does a nursing home safety review look for?
CareGuard’s review covers the physical plant of a skilled nursing or assisted living facility, corridor by corridor. It looks for the things that hurt people slowly: a handrail that stops six feet short of the door, an exit chained on second shift, a shower with no reachable call button, and a floor that is wet at the same time every day because the ice machine runs then.
Are the veterans who do reviews the same as the veterans Valor Medica serves?
They are two different relationships, and the foundation keeps them distinct. Veterans conduct CareGuard’s safety reviews of skilled nursing and assisted living facilities. Separately, Valor Medica provides medical care, mental health and recovery support and vocational training to veterans and neighbors experiencing homelessness. A veteran who needs care should go to Valor Medica, not this page.