The commandant of the Iowa Veterans Home is responding to a call from a veterans activist for an investigation by the legislature of the way the home is handling psychiatric services. Bob Krause says the home “has been actively avoiding treatment” of veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD.
Commandant David Worley says Krause has not discussed the issue with him. “I’ve been the commandant here since August of 2010 and while I have met Mr. Krause and am aware of who Mr. Krause is, I am unaware that Mr. Krause has even visited the Iowa Veterans Home since I’ve been here. And I know I’ve never talked to him — and he’s never contact me or our mental health team — about concerns about mental health treatment,” Worley says.
Krause claims someone sent to the home found the psychiatric unit closed. Worley says PTSD treatment is available. “We treat veterans with Post Traumatic Stress every day. And we admit veterans — if they need nursing care, or residential care — we admit them every day,”Worley says.
He says the home’s staff provides the care. “We have 500 residents in our nursing home care here and about a hundred residents over in our residential care facility, and all of those veterans who require post Traumatic stress treatment get it here at the Iowa Veterans Home,” Worley says.
Krause is a former state legislator who runs a charity for veterans dealing with P-T-S-D and other issues.
By Lance Renaud, KFJB, Marshalltown