T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY — On Monday, leaders at the Iowa Veterans Home announced a restructuring that will eliminate 11 positions in the activities department, reduce four from full-time to part-time and create seven new jobs focused on direct care, according to Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs Spokesman Karl Lettow.

On Monday, staff at the Iowa Veterans Home were informed of a “restructuring” that will affect a total of 15 jobs in the activities department — 11 positions will be eliminated outright, and four will be reduced from full-time to part-time effective Aug. 15.

The news isn’t all bad, however, as seven roles focused “more directly on patient care” will be either created or reclassified, and all of the affected employees will have the opportunity to apply for them, according to Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs Communications Specialist Karl Lettow.

Lettow read a prepared statement, printed in its entirety below, before discussing the situation further with the T-R on Monday evening.

“The Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs is realigning the Iowa Veterans Home to meet the challenging needs of our residents, which have evolved over time. The cost of care is increasing while federal reimbursements aren’t keeping pace. This realignment will result in more efficient and responsive support and care for our residents by putting more staff in a direct care role,” Lettow said. “This is a strategic decision to position ourselves to provide the very best support to our residents now and into the future. This morning, we notified 15 members of the Iowa Veterans Home staff (that) their employment status would be impacted by this realignment. Our staff is what makes IVH the best place in Iowa for our residents, and we have opportunities in other areas. We encourage our affected staff members to apply for those.”

As Lettow went on to explain, the needs of residents have “evolved over time” and now require a different mix of skills, and Commandant Todd Jacobus said the changes were necessary to keep the facility in a strong financial position.

Local social media users had strong reactions to the news, as one post from Wyatt Manship, a social worker at IVH, had garnered over 75 comments at presstime.

“They don’t care about employees or how it will affect the residents. More with less is The IVH way. They should not have a budget shortfall. What are we doing to our Vets? They deserve the best care, and staff are being thinned to the bone and positions not filled when someone leaves and the workload is passed to other staff,” Manship wrote. “If you really believe all that stuff about supporting Vets then call 641-752-1501 and leave a message for the commandant and then call the governor’s office 515-281-5211 or your representative. Tell them this won’t stand for our Vets and to fully fund IVH so (there are) no layoffs or making people demote for lower pay. Our Vets deserve the best, not a skeleton crew. This is your town. These are Vets who have served with honor. Will you speak up for our Vets, your town and the loyal state employees?”

When reached for a follow up Monday evening, Manship said many staff members were being “forced” into lower paying job classifications, and as a result of attrition and vacant positions not being filled, workloads are putting employees “at their breaking point.”

Manship’s wife Angie is a therapeutic recreation specialist who will be affected by the restructuring, and he said she was given the option of either being laid off or applying for an activity assistant job at a lower rate of pay.

“These are vital people to our teams and to the residents. This is a slap in the face to all of recreation that works hard to provide activities to our Vets,” Wyatt Manship said.

With around 700 staff members and 400 residents, IVH remains one of Marshalltown’s largest employers. Lettow acknowledged the efforts of the workers and hoped the realignment would be “a step in the right direction” aimed at taking some pressure off of those in frontline positions.

Some of the direct care jobs being created, Lettow added, will require some level of training such as a CNA certificate, but IVH does offer those classes in house while allowing staff to continue working.

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