Governor: No plans to close Iowa Veterans Home

In response to information {that a} facility closure protocol doc had been despatched to Iowa Veterans House staff not lengthy after the resignation of former Commandant Matthew Peterson, a spokesperson for Gov. Kim Reynolds shut down rumors of the ability’s impending closure on Saturday afternoon.

Alex Murphy, the communications director for Gov. Reynolds, mentioned there are “no plans in any way” to close down IVH, explaining that the doc in query, a duplicate of which was anonymously mailed to the Occasions-Republican, was required by the federal authorities for compliance. He subsequently issued a press release on behalf of the governor.

“There aren’t any plans to shut the Iowa Veterans House. The doc in query is nothing greater than a coverage required by the federal authorities and by no means signifies closure of IVH,” the assertion reads. “It’s irresponsible for Senate Democrats to not do their analysis and attain out to our workplace for the details earlier than going on to the media with a false rumor, creating pointless concern for the staff, veterans and their households at IVH.”

AFSCME Council 61, the union that represents IVH staff, issued a media launch on Sept. 13 demanding solutions from the governor on the plans for the way forward for the Marshalltown facility, which homes about 400 veterans and employs over 900 folks.

Rep. Sue Cahill, a Democrat from Marshalltown who sits on the Home Veterans Affairs Committee, mentioned she was “very shocked” by Peterson’s departure and worries about continuity with the potential for a 3rd Commandant in a span of about 14 months.

“This simply places a number of query marks on the market that makes me say ‘How is that this affecting our veterans, (and) how is that this affecting our employees?’ I’m very involved for our employees on this management vacuum. It appears we’ve bought a sample going right here,” she mentioned.

Sen. Jeff Edler (R-State Middle), who represents Marshall County and sits on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, had not responded to a request for remark at presstime.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.