Phoenix, AZ—Arizona Republican Party Chairman Randy Pullen today said the Napolitano Administration owed Arizona veterans an apology for the ongoing neglect and allegations of abuse continuing to come from the Arizona State Veterans’ Home.
“In February, the annual audit uncovered a terrible state of affairs in which Arizona’s veterans were living in conditions I can’t bear to imagine,” Pullen said. “Governor Napolitano promised to fix the problems, and to help her along, the Republican state legislature even appropriated several million dollars to assist with the otherwise self-funded facility’s improvement.
The governor took the money, but the problems didn’t get solved,” said Pullen. “If anything, they seem to have gotten worse.”
Pullen cited a December 7, 2007, Arizona Republic article concerning a new oversight report of the veterans’ home. It documented cases of untreated bed sores, neglected wounds and unchanged bandages, untrained and unqualified staff, residents who have fallen and even broken bones dozens of times, and allegations of abuse and other incidents which the Veterans’ home failed to report in the manner or time required.
“On behalf of Arizona’s 700,000 veterans, as well as those who are involved in our growing Veterans Coalition project here at the Arizona Republican Party, I can safely say that enough is enough,” Pullen said. “Men and women who put their lives on the line to defend our great state and nation shouldn’t be neglected here at home.
“Ten months after the governor learned about the problems our Arizona veterans face, she either doesn’t care or can’t do the job – there’s no other possible excuse for this incompetence,” Pullen said. “And clearly she’s never had a loved one lying in the hospital with bed sores or infected wounds or she wouldn’t be so flippant as to worry about ‘holiday trees’ when veterans were suffering with much more dire problems.”
“Governor, you wanted the job – now it’s time for you to do the job,” Pullen said.
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