By Maria Curi
Amid turmoil caused by Sgt. Brandon Ketchum’s suicide after being denied inpatient care at the Iowa City VA, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, will appear at the Operation Engage America Resource Fair at the IMU today from 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
The Operation Engage America offers education and tools for veterans and first responders with post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury who are transitioning back into civilian life and their families.
Ketchum served in Iraq and Afghanistan; on July 8, after being flagged for suicide at least twice before, the 33-year-old ended his life.
Ernst, who served in the military for 23 years, addressed Ketchum’s death in an Aug. 16 press release that called for answers for the more than 1,200 veterans assigned to primary-care providers who are no longer employed with the VA, also known as “ghost panels.”
Ghost panels violate the policy of the Veterans Health Administration.
Prompted by a letter sent to the inspector general of the Department of Veterans Affairs on Aug. 2 by Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, the Iowa City VA Hospital is now under an investigation by the Inspector General’s Office.
It is unclear when the investigation will conclude.
“Unfortunately, we don’t know if it’ll come later today or three months from now,” said Loebsack press secretary Joe Hand.
Bryan Clark, the public-affairs officer of the Iowa City VA Health Care System, said, “We don’t have any information about a timeline for that report, though we would like to see it sooner rather than later.”
Loebsack, who serves on the Armed House Services Committee, also said in an Aug. 3 press release that he would draft legislation “to ensure all veterans who seek treatment receive the care they need and deserve.”
The timeline and content of that legislation is also unclear.
“Nothing is expected, and we don’t have a concrete plan on when it will be introduced,” Hand said. “Congress hasn’t been in session, so we’ve used the month of August to talk to veterans so we can be more informed on the issue.”
UI Clinical Assistant Professor Daniel Wesemann, the director of the Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program, said policy efforts could only go so far in what he called a “numbers game,” as an already strained system gets more strained because of military people from Iraq and Afghanistan returning to the U.S.
“You would like to have a policy saying we want to double the size of the VA here in Iowa City, and that would be great, but then who’s going to staff it?” he said. “That requires people to go to school for years, and so do we support students who pursue those degrees and when they graduate are we going to make them work in the VA? These are long-term solutions for a problem in need of immediate attention. Solving this problem would require years of schooling, and so Congressman Loebsack may not even see real solutions come into fruition in his congressional lifetime.”