Gov. Maura Healey appointed state Rep. Jon Santiago because the commonwealth’s first-ever secretary of veterans’ providers, a place that was created in response to a lethal COVID-19 outbreak at a long-term care facility for former troopers.
Santiago, an emergency medication doctor and main within the U.S. Army Reserve, will lead the Executive Office of Veterans’ Services, a cupboard that was shaped by laws handed in 2022, following the “devastating tragedy at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home” two years earlier, Healey’s workplace mentioned Friday.
The appointment turns into efficient upon institution of the secretariat on March 1, when Santiago might be sworn into his new position.
In a press release, Healey mentioned Santiago has devoted his life to serving his nation, pointing to his work within the emergency room at Boston Medical Center throughout COVID, his two abroad deployments with the U.S. Army Reserve, and advocacy for housing, public transportation and substance-use dysfunction remedy as a state lawmaker.
“His public health expertise and military service makes him uniquely qualified to serve as Massachusetts’ first-ever secretary of veterans’ services,” Healey mentioned. “I’m confident that he will be the leader our veterans need and deserve and will always stand up for their health, safety and well-being.”
As secretary, Santiago will function the final word appointing authority of the superintendents of the state’s two veterans’ properties. He will work carefully with the newly-constituted Veterans’ Home Council, additionally created by final 12 months’s laws.
This council’s tasks embrace recommending enhancements and insurance policies for veterans’ properties to the secretary of veterans’ providers, submitting suggestions for appointments and removing of veterans’ properties superintendents, and growing an annual report reviewing its personal funds, demographics, staffing ranges and resident well-being, Healey’s workplace mentioned.
Santiago, a Puerto Rico native who lives within the South End along with his spouse and son, will step down from the Legislature to imagine what he described as a “historic position.”
“Our veterans deserve the absolute highest quality of care, but they are far too often underserved,” Santiago mentioned in a press release. “The Healey-Driscoll administration is committed to meeting the complex needs of those who have bravely served our country.”
The Democrat has represented the ninth Suffolk District since 2019, taking over elevated duty throughout the pandemic.
He was a member of the House COVID-19 working group and vice chair of the COVID-19 and Emergency Preparedness & Management committee, to “advise policy-making and ensure state government accountability,” Healey’s workplace mentioned.
Santiago attained a bachelor’s diploma from the University of Texas at Austin, a grasp’s of public well being from the University of Washington at Seattle, and is a graduate of the Yale School of Medicine.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”