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Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Oklahoma top Veterans Affairs officials out after investigations

Top veterans affairs officials out amid neglect, abuse investigations
By SHANNON MUCHMORE
World Staff Writer
Published: 7/31/2012

Frances Minter displays photos of her and her husband, Jay, who died in May after being scalded in a whirlpool bath at the Claremore Veterans Center. CORY YOUNG / Tulsa World

Nearly three months after an 85-year-old veteran died after being scalded in a whirlpool bath at the Claremore Veterans Center, the executive director of the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs has retired and the administrator of the center abruptly resigned.

A veterans affairs official said executive director Martha Spears retired Friday, citing her husband's ongoing medical issues. Claremore Veterans Center administrator Cynthia Adams did not give a reason for her resignation, said Larry Jordan, administrative programs officer at the Department of Veterans Affairs' Claremore division.

Neither Adams nor Spears could be reached for comment.

The War Veterans Commission, which appoints the department's executive director and administers veterans programs in the state, has set an emergency meeting Tuesday in Oklahoma City.

Family members of the man who died, Jay Minter, as well as family of others who have been at the Claremore facility say this is not the first instance of neglect or abuse at the center. A state legislator has created an interim study to review the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Minter's widow, Frances, said she wants people to know about what happened to her husband, whose death was first reported by The Journal Record.

"I'm hoping that through the death of my husband there will be some changes to the system and this never happens again to anybody," she said in an interview with the Tulsa World.
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