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When is enough enough? From four states away, I ponder this question as friends and acquaintances continue to contact me about the recent announcement of layoffs at the Iowa Veterans Home (IVH).
It has been nearly two years since my official service to IVH came to an end, but my affection for its residents and employees has not diminished. I am offering some observations and calls to action with the hope that they may be of some use to Iowa’s veterans and their advocates. I am also writing to express solidarity with the brave men and women who have finally had enough and are fighting to make their voices heard despite their justifiable fear of retaliation.
When I moved to Marshalltown to become the Commandant of IVH, I met with a prominent member of the community. As we discussed the history of IVH, the sadness in his voice and desperation in his eyes were evident when he said, “I’ve lived here my whole life, and I can’t remember when there was not some kind of scandal at the veterans home.”
His words were prophetic. Thirteen months later I submitted my resignation following a flurry of events that left me little choice. My experience was not an anomaly. Subsequent conversations with previous Commandants revealed their experiences were very similar.
Between 1887 and 1969, there were 11 Commandants at IVH, an average of nearly seven and a half years per administration. Between 1969 and 2002, Jack Dack was Commandant. The longevity of his tenure was an exception. Since 2002, there have been 11 Commandants, an average of less than two years per administration, nearly all of whom left under some form of duress. More succinctly, in the last 22 years at IVH, there have been as many Commandants as there were in the first 82 years of its history.
Has anyone considered why that is? Has anyone looked for a common denominator? Has anyone considered the volatility created by such transience, how veterans are affected by it, or how it created conditions for the venomous environment that has defined IVH upper leadership for years? When will it be enough?
During my service at IVH, I fielded a constant barrage of complaints from dozens of employees and residents about the toxicity and inefficiency of the Administrator, the Human Resources Director, the Director of Nursing, and the Medical Director. There were complaints of waste, abuse, retaliation, favoritism, and intimidation, among others. In response, I attempted to mediate differences and resolve conflict rather than make changes. In retrospect, I consider that to be among my greatest professional mistakes.
If I had it to do again, I would have listened to the employees and my better instincts and made bold changes in personnel at the highest levels. I have been gone for nearly two years, and the same complaints about the same people continue at the same frequency and volume. How many complaints must be heard, from how many employees, and for how long? When will it be enough?
That question lingers painfully unanswered, but it is just one of many. Other questions that deserve an answer include why is revenue so low, why does census continue to decline, and what has been done to seek financial relief other than terminating employees? Have opportunities for support been explored from the tens of thousands of nonprofit organizations in the United States dedicated to supporting veterans? Has anyone fully explored the possibility of grants, donations, or other community support to offset the cost of IVH’s operational expenses? IVH is eliminating jobs in a community that hardly needs more unemployment. When will it be enough?
It is an axiom of leadership that unpopular decisions must be made from time to time. Leaders forced to search for the balance between worthwhile causes and limited resources have my sympathy because I know it is not an easy thing to do.
However, the situation at IVH is about much more than leaders making difficult decisions to survive tough times. The recent announcement of layoffs is merely the latest symptom among many others that indicates chronic and systemic toxicity at the Iowa Veterans Home. When will it be enough?
These questions have answers, and it’s time they are made known. I humbly call on members of Iowa’s legislature, especially those in the House and Senate Veterans Committees, to hear the voices of IVH’s residents and employees whose grievances can no longer be ignored. I call on the office of the State Auditor Rob Sand, and Director Adam Steen of the Department of Administrative Services to conduct comprehensive and transparent investigations into the leadership environment at IVH.
I call on Governor Reynolds to look more closely at what is happening to Iowa’s veterans at the largest senior living facility in her state, and one of the largest veterans homes in the country. I also ask the Governor to support the statutory authority of the Iowa Veterans Commission to oversee and influence decisions that have too frequently been made without their input or even awareness. The Commission is made up of passionate and gifted veterans, marginalizing their contribution is an offense. I call on the leaders of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) to assist the employees of IVH to organize.
Finally, I call on the citizens of Marshalltown to stand up on behalf of Iowa’s veterans. They need you. Will you stand with them?
The men and women planning to protest the conditions at IVH have my respect and my admiration. I did the best I could to support them when I was Commandant, and my support for them has not wavered in my absence. I will be with them in spirit as they make their voices heard, and I encourage anyone with a genuine concern for Iowa’s veterans to join them at the Echo Statue on 13th Street at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 17.
To those who join the protest I offer these words from the pioneering anthropologist Margaret Mead, “Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever has.”
The Iowa Veterans Home could be a national model for long term care of veterans and their spouses. It should be the crown jewel in the community of Marshalltown. It should not be a chronic source of scandal and toxicity. IVH is better than that. Marshalltown is better than that. It’s time to be better because enough is finally enough.
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Matthew Peterson served as the commandant
of the Iowa Veterans Home from 2021 to 2022.
He currently resides in Texas.