Neglecting Wisconsin’s vets: Residents suffer at King home while state reallocates surplus money

KING, Wisconsin — Walter Sundling wanted to live at the Wisconsin Veterans Home at King.

Held captive by the Nazis during World War II after his plane was shot down over Germany, the 90-year-old Air Force veteran was healthy when he asked to move to the community surrounded by southern pines he visited as a child. He had his own apartment at an assisted living facility in Madison, but wanted to be near others who had served their country, at the home between Stevens Point and Oshkosh.

“He said, ‘I’d love to be with veterans. I’d really like to be with my own kind and I’ve heard so many good things about King,’” said Sundling’s daughter, Sharon Blando, who lives in Milwaukee. “He was just so happy to be with the vets.”

Two years later, Blando said, the Purple Heart recipient developed gastrointestinal bleeding from untreated constipation. Two heart attacks followed and Sundling later died, the result, Blando claims, of widespread neglect at Wisconsin’s largest state-run, skilled nursing facility. Despite her father’s advanced age, Blando believes abysmal care at King expedited his death last year.

Read more: http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/govt-and-politics/neglecting-wisconsin-s-vets-residents-suffer-at-king-home-while/article_845f89d8-34d1-5896-a6cb-d341052201bb.html