The Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs didn’t insure the contents of its new, 200-capacity nursing home in Enterprise before it opened last fall and burned in the spring.
A spokesman for the ADVA said this week the lack of insurance for contents was an oversight. It should cost the department about $100,000 to replace damaged items, mostly furniture.
But according to the emails obtained by Alabama Daily News through an open records request, the Alabama Department of Finance’s Office of Risk Management staff asked ADVA staff at least twice in September about acquiring contents coverage before the CSM Bennie G. Adkins Veterans Home opened.
“On the main building, do you guys want to add contents coverage yet?” A state underwriter asked in mid-September. “If so, will you just let me know a stated value for how much you need?”
Those prompts went unanswered, according to the finance department.
The building itself was insured. The State Insurance Fund provides property and casualty coverage for buildings and their contents owned by state agencies. Risk management personnel work with public owners to determine the appropriate coverage, the department of finance explained.
“It is the responsibility of the public owner to declare information to (risk management) about the facility and any contents they wish to be covered in the event of a loss,” finance said in a written statement to ADN. “Public owners certify annually a listing of all covered properties and contents and must provide updates throughout the year for any changes or additions to their inventories.
“In the event of a physical loss, coverage is provided only for facilities and contents that have been declared and certified.”
Brandon Miller, ADVA’s director of outreach, told ADN that risk management usually sends insurance certification updates to state agencies each May and the annual review serves as a “check and balance” to certify adequate coverage.
“… During the annual review (this year), the absence of content coverage for the Veterans home was identified and corrected,” he said. “This content coverage was thought to have been added to the policy at the time the facility opened in September 2024 but was not.”
The ADVA did get $4.5 million in contents coverage in May of this year, after the devastating fire and water damage that will keep the home closed for at least a year. That coverage is not retroactive. The $4.5 million is on par with the contents coverage at the state’s other VA homes, according to information provided by the ADVA.
The department last month said it will cost $50 million to $60 million to restore the home. The work is expected to take 12 to 14 months. The April fire displaced the about 100 residents who’d been living at the home that opened in October.
That the home was only about half full of residents and the fire was mostly contained to the ceiling and roof areas lessened the damage, Miller said.
A panel of lawmakers were told the fire destroyed the home’s kitchen, laundry facility and utility room. That equipment is insured, Miller said.
He described a small loss of uncovered content.
“These contents include library bookshelves and several tables, wardrobes, and nightstands. Some of the items suffered delamination, but all contents are secured and the overall damage is minimal,” Miller said in an email. “At this time, the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs estimates replacements will cost approximately $100,000, which will be budgeted by the ADVA. The facility’s $50-60 million restoration process will be covered through the State of Alabama Department of Finance Division of Risk Management and insurance reimbursement.”
The fire was ruled accidental. Officials said contractors were working on vents on the roof over the kitchen when the fire started.
The September ribbon cutting at the state’s fifth VA nursing home was a high point of former ADVA Commissioner Kent Davis, who at the time was embroiled in an inter-agency dispute that eventually led to his dismissal by Gov. Kay Ivey. When she fired him, against the wishes of the ADVA board, she cited a “total failure of leadership at the department and lack of cooperation” in terminating Davis.
Davis in June sued Ivey, saying she didn’t have the authority to fire him. Ivey’s attorneys last week asked a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit.
