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Rep. Hinson, VA Secretary Collins lead roundtable on veterans’ issues at IVH Tuesday

By Robert Maharry 5 min read

United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins and U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) brought a coalition of elected officials and leaders of veterans hospitals and advocacy organizations together inside the Whitehill Auditorium on the Iowa Veterans Home (IVH) campus in Marshalltown on Tuesday morning for a roundtable discussion tailored toward legislative issues regarding veterans and how both state and federal governments can better support those who have served.

Collins, a Navy veteran and current colonel in the Air Force Reserve, represented Georgia's 9th District in the U.S. House from 2013 to 2021 and has held his current post since 2025, and Hinson is running for a seat in the U.S. Senate against Democrat Josh Turek. After participants took turns introducing themselves, Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs (IDVA) Commandant Todd Jacobus laid out some of his chief concerns and challenges he is currently facing: veterans whose pharmaceutical costs are more than the reimbursable rate at the VA, two annual required surveys at IVH that he feels are redundant, and the VA construction backlog as Jacobus highlighted several pending projects in Iowa including a renovation of the IVH kitchen.

As he explained that about $4.8 billion is spent annually on said construction projects, Collins asked those in attendance to guess the average age of a VA hospital -- the correct answer is between 60 and 70 years old, though Marshalltown does have a brand new outpatient clinic on East Merle Hibbs Boulevard.

Iowa Commission of Veterans Affairs Chairwoman Darlene McMartin raised the issue of toxic exposure at Fort McClellan in Alabama, where she was stationed, and hoped the department would take action to ensure that individuals in her situation would be eligible for automatic presumptive status. Sen. Kara Warme (R-Ames), the daughter of a retired Naval aviator, asked about veterans mental health and, more specifically, psychedelic treatments such as psilocybin, ketamine and MDMA and how the federal government is addressing the topic.

Hinson liked the idea of tailoring the treatments to veterans and lamented "misinformation" while noting the skepticism around using such unconventional treatments to help veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Collins commented that the aforementioned drugs have largely worked thus far, but he noted that ibogaine, a "harsh" treatment, is also frequently utilized.

In consultation with Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Collins continues to explore those treatments and said his biggest concern is ensuring safety while helping veterans in any way possible. Sen. Jeff Reichman (R-Keokuk), the chair of the Iowa Senate's Veterans Affairs Committee and a Marine Corps veteran himself, sought assistance in fast-tracking claims for people like his 78-year-old father, who served in Vietnam, and Collins described efforts to streamline the claims process and greatly reduce the number of backlogged cases.

He also sought to dispel the rumor that claims are finalized by artificial intelligence (AI).

"There's always a person who actually does the actual claim," he said. "There's a lot of folks online trying to scare people... AI does not do this."

Rep. David Blom (R-Marshalltown) reflected on the community's pride in its veterans and asked about job training opportunities to encourage more people to pursue nursing careers that would allow them to work at places like IVH. After Hinson and Collins had responded to the question, Collins endorsed the idea of Veterans Courts to keep veterans out of the prison system and help them find jobs -- noting that the vast majority of people who go to jail eventually re-enter the general population -- and he also touted efforts to reduce homelessness among veterans.

As the discussion wound down, Collins endorsed the idea of standardizing training and procedures for Veteran Service Officers (VSOs) across the country, and he credited Iowa's VSOs for the important work they do in all 99 counties. Hinson thanked all who participated for allowing her to take the issues raised back to Washington, D.C.

"The conversation doesn't stop here. It's just starting here," she said.

In a somewhat surprising twist given the state of modern social media discourse, Collins highlighted a success story that arose out of the comments section on one of his posts in preventing a veteran's suicide.

"I get it. You're in public life. Your comment section's probably not great. But if you think yours is bad, look at mine," he said to laughs around the room.

Hinson and Collins were greeted by Marshalltown Mayor Mike Ladehoff, Marshall County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jarret Heil and Marshall County Veterans Affairs Director Kevin Huseboe upon their initial arrival at Sheeler Hall, and after the conclusion of their roundtable, they took a round of questions from the various media outlets in attendance. Collins is one of several cabinet members to have visited Iowa in the last week as Kennedy and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth have also made recent appearances in the state.

Collins told the T-R that the conversation at IVH reminded him of some of the bureaucratic issues his department continues to face but noted positive progress toward eliminating the backlog of cases and complaints.

"What I'm seeing here has been a good balance of the things we need to continue to do as we work through that to help every veteran know that they have a place at the VA if they want it," he said.

Contact Robert Maharry at (641) 753-6611 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.

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