T-R FILE PHOTO Ryan Trosen, preaching four years ago in Anson Park for Restore Church, is the Iowa Veterans Home chaplain who is being let go after the Aug. 15 realignment. During his five years at IVH, Trosen built cherished and strong relationships with the residents and is sad his time has come to this end.

The Aug. 15 realignment plan at the Iowa Veterans Home is still moving forward with 15 staff positions being affected. Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs Spokesman Karl Lettow said it is still in place, but some perspectives have been changed.

“Right now, everyone is on board,” he said.

Most of the 15 positions affected are in the recreation department, but one position belongs to Chaplain Ryan Trosen. Since getting word of his position being eliminated, the last few weeks have been hard, he said.

“It has been a really difficult time to navigate,” Trosen said. “For me, there has been the emotional side of losing a job, and I share that with the residents, helping them work through their grief.”

Informing the veterans of his departure has left them very upset and hurt, he said. Trosen was there for more than five years, and he developed strong relationships with the residents.

“Not only was I their chaplain, but also their pastor,” he said. “Residents would greet me in the hall as Pastor Ryan. I have seen a lot of sadness in the loss of one of their chaplains and pastors.”

Lettow said IVH has traditionally held a two-chaplain model, one Catholic and one Protestant, for the campus. After the realignment goes into effect, there will be one chaplain for 400 residents, but veterans will not be left spiritually high and dry.

“We recognize the spiritual needs as part of the whole health continuum,” he said.

The importance of meeting those spiritual needs is hard to put into words, Trosen said.

“There are veterans experiencing PTSD, people who are dealing with the loss of their independence,” he said. “I know how important their spiritual care is. It is massively important and a huge part of their lives. It has been so cool to be in their services, to hear them sing and praise the Lord, to hear what they shared with me.”

The remaining chaplain will continue working to meet the needs of both denominations. The chaplain will continue to provide spiritual support, conduct services in the chapel, engage in individual counseling sessions and have a hand in volunteer services and donations.

Trosen said the remaining chaplain, Angela Doty, is truly exceptional and will provide fantastic care to the veterans, and knows about the concerns others have expressed about one person meeting the needs. However, not all of the spiritual needs of the residents will fall completely on the shoulders of the remaining chaplain.

Lettow said many outside pastors and spiritual leaders regularly visit the campus and the veterans, as part of agreements built with IVH.

“A lot of the veterans are already meeting with pastors on an outreach basis,” he said.

Plus, one good thing that came out of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic was the practice some churches adopted to broadcast sermons. Lettow said many veterans watch those.

“They are still able to maintain ties with their church,” he said. “So there is a combination of things. The advances are just one more example of a better way to provide something we already were.”

The decision to have one chaplain was in part due to the declining resident population. The need for two chaplains was necessary when there were more veterans. The reduction in the population has a lot to do with advances in the healthcare industry and veterans being able to remain at home.

Lettow is confident that having one chaplain will work. About half of the veterans homes in the country do not even have a chaplain on staff.

“Nationally, there is a trend toward one chaplain per campus,” Lettow said.

To help with the news, Trosen turned to the writings of the apostle Paul, to the letters he sent to churches in Rome and elsewhere. He realized it would help him figure out how to respond to the decision, one that was made without first inquiring about his thoughts. Just as Paul wrote a love letter to those churches, Trosen wanted to share a love letter to the veterans from his pulpit.

“I developed a deep, deep passion for the people,” he said. “I wanted to share that letter, and what they have meant to me.”

In closing, Trosen said it has been an absolute honor to serve the IVH residents, and he is very sorry for how his time is ending.

“I want to thank the staff who have reached out and let me know I will be missed,” Trosen said. “I want to thank the veterans who come to the services and to the ones who don’t, for letting me care for them . . . I want to thank my boss who has been a phenomenal resource and to Doty for being a fantastic person to work with. I am going to miss everyone terribly. I will miss them all a lot.”

Lettow also wanted to clear up some confusion about the 15 affected positions, which he called a “change of status.” Yes, 11 of those jobs are being eliminated, but those employees have been given the option to fill seven open positions.

“We have balanced it the best we can and will retain those employees in other open positions,” Lettow said. “If someone was in recreation and they are not staying, we will work with them to see if they want to fill one of the other ones. It is shaking out and everybody seems to be on board.”

While the realignment is going on, he said IVH is still hoping to achieve full staffing. Lettow also wanted to clarify that the changes have nothing to do with the IVH budget, which is important, but not the deciding factor.

“These changes are smart, organizational decisions that are not tied to the budget,” he said. “The budget was thrown in as a red herring. The primary objective of this is to improve delivery of care, while trying to get to full staffing.”

Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.