Rally at Des Moines V-A Hospital

Federal workers and disabled veterans in central Iowa join forces for a rally tomorrow at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Des Moines. Organizers say the goal is to make the public more aware of the financial condition the facility is facing, calling it a recipe for disaster. Tom Neal is President of the hospital’s chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees. He says the staff is tormented by the recent allegations patients are being neglected. Neal says it’s also a huge weight on everyone there that the facility’s budget is in such trouble. The V-A hospitals in Des Moines & Knoxville are facing a 20-million dollar deficit in addition to a budget that’s been frozen sinced 1997 and will remain so until 2002. Neal blames our elected leaders for the situation. Neal says no time could be more appropriate for the event than Memorial Day weekend.