OKLAHOMA CITY – If problems surrounding the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs – the ongoing turmoil between the governor’s office and the agency’s leadership, the lack of oversight by the Veterans Commission and the continued struggle to make sure the state’s elderly veterans receive proper care – sound familiar that’s because all this has happened before.
Just a decade before, to be exact. In May 2012, those problems came into full focus after Bob Sands, a reporter with OETA, and I published a series of stories that detailed cases of abuse, assault, neglect and a lack of leadership in the state’s veterans system.
At that time, then-Gov. Mary Fallin tasked General Rita Aragon – the first woman to hold the position of Secretary of Veterans Affairs – with the job of righting the struggling system.
Aragon’s task was huge; the problems with the ODVA were systemic and only seemed to grow worse. In addition, Martha Speak, the ODVA’s executive director at the time, told Aragon she was not welcomed and did little to help.
While this power struggle continued, the frailest of our state’s veterans continued to suffer. The stories were horrific:
• The tale of the veteran who was placed in a malfunctioning whirlpool and boiled to death in Claremore. In that story the veteran died in terrible pain and the administrators at the center filed false records to cover up the mistake.
• The story of the veteran, a former doctor, who was dropped on the floor as he was being moved after the staff ignored the orders of the veteran’s treating physician who told them to use a lift.
• The case of the veteran being treated for grand mal seizures and hepatitis C and who was forced out of the veteran’s center because he had the temerity to question a decision of the administrators. That veteran was later found dead at a motel in Tecumseh.
• The incident of the employee at the Norman Veteran’s Center who was charged with rape and oral sodomy against patients with advanced dementia.
The incidents were ongoing and spanned years.
Oversight was lacking.
At that time – just like today – the ODVA leadership was in a power struggle with the governor’s office and the nine-member War Veterans Commission was doing little to provide leadership and direction.
With all this as background noise, the veterans – those men and women who answered their country’s call – were the ones that suffered.
Much to her credit, Fallin made the improvement of the ODVA a top priority. She and Aragon fought for better oversight and pushed back against the bureaucratic roadblocks. Fallin also had help from lawmakers such as Ardmore Republican Frank Simpson and then-state Rep. Joe Dorman, a Democrat.
Eventually things began to improve. And, for a while, it looked as if the state’s veteran’s system had put its sordid past behind it and fully embraced its mission: caring for those veterans who elderly and frail.
Fast forward a decade. Today, the ODVA is once again mired in an ongoing fight with the executive branch – most of which is nothing but pure, raw politics. Republican Joel Kintsel, the ODVA executive director, took aim at Gov. Kevin Stitt and challenged him in the Republican primary in June.
During this same time the governor removed two members of the War Veterans Commission. Those members would later sue Stitt, saying the governor removed them because of their political opinion.
Still, the ODVA is an executive branch agency with the governor ultimately responsible for its function. In addition, the nine-member War Veterans Commission is appointed by the governor and, according to state law, serve at the pleasure of the governor.
The ODVA executive director is chosen by the War Veterans Commission. It too, answers to the governor.
The setup was supposed to foster accountability. The buck is designed to stop at the governor’s desk with everyone – the governor, the War Veterans Commission and the ODVA’s leadership are all charged with the same goal – taking care of our state’s veterans.
That piece of the puzzle was lacking 10 years ago, and the veterans suffered.
Oklahoma has a long and deep history with all things miliary. The residents of southwestern Oklahoma know this. They know that service in our country’s armed forces in a noble and honorable choice. They also know that our country and our state made commitments to those who put their lives in harm’s way.
Taking care of veterans should never be about politics. Instead, it should always be about keeping promises.