Veterans should vote for Jack Hatch

Veterans need to vote for Jack Hatch because of Gov. Terry Branstad's work against the Iowa Veterans Home, which supports more than 600 disabled and retired veterans.

Branstad first proposed that the veterans home be considered for privatization in the early 1990s. He has tried to privatize various aspects of the home and ended services necessary for longtime residents, such as the wheelchair repair facility and recreational services. He also closed the psychiatric wing even though PTSD needs are surging.

The home has been re-purposed as a profit center on a conventional nursing home model by replace the missing state appropriations with federal Medicaid/Medicare dollars that do not cover specialized veteran care.

Accordingly, services that make the home a specialized place for veterans have been cut. And, he has politicized the management of the facility by creating 10 times more at-will management than any other state agency.

In your lifetime, you may never know a person that needs the homes' services. But for those that need it, it should be more than a warehouse for damaged people. That service member who did a sacrifice for you needs a chance to live a life with interest and meaning.

That is why I am voting for Hatch.

Bob Krause

President

Veterans National Recovery Center

Des Moines