State Veterans Homes A Top Priority For New VA Secretary

The new secretary for the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs will be making the state’s veterans homes a top priority, Gov. Scott Walker says.

Daniel Zimmerman is a retired lieutenant colonel, military intelligence officer and a decorated combat veteran with 25 years of service in the U.S. Army. He is also the vice president of the Ripon Area School District Board of Education.

In a statement, Walker said Zimmerman would immediately conduct a thorough assessment of the operations at the homes.

“We serve some of our most vulnerable veterans at our veterans’ homes, and I expect nothing but the best when it comes to the care of these patients,” Walker said.

Zimmerman is already reviewing conditions at the troubled Veterans Home at King, said David Kurtz, state adjutant of the American Legion of Wisconsin.

“I know for a fact that he’s at King today, and looking closely at the situation, the circumstances there,” Kurtz said Friday. “I think working with them, getting a first-hand knowledge of the circumstances, will go a long, long way.”

The home is the focus of a state audit following concerns about the quality of care.

The appointment of Zimmerman will not solve the problems at King, according to AFSCME Council 32 Executive Director Rick Badger, whose union represents certified nursing assistants, food service workers and others at the 700-bed facility.

Badger blames Act 10, Walker’s measure that reduced the power of state employee unions, for the problems at the homes.

“Act 10 caused a wave of dedicated and experienced caregivers to retire and it devalued front-line jobs to the point where it’s been hard to fill vacancies,” Badger said.

But Tom Evenson, Walker’s deputy communications director, said “this has nothing to do with Act 10. There is a nationwide shortage of LPNs and nurse aides, and Walker has moved to address it at our veteran’s homes by increasing pay and benefits for staff, approving new positions, and altering scheduling practices.”

Kurtz said he hopes the new secretary also focuses on “post-9/11 veterans, the younger veterans that return from Iraq and Afghanistan.” He said the group is plagued by “a high incidence of vetrerans’ suicide, substance abuse issues (and) post-traumatic stress disorder.”

Zimmerman replaces John Scocos, who left office last month.