To: Governor Glenn Youngkin, Attorney General Jason Miyares, Members of the Virginia General Assembly, and Members of the Virginia Press
Dear All,
Well, it’s Friday. Again. And here we are—still waiting.
It’s now almost ten weeks since I began raising alarm bells about the abuse, neglect, and Medicare/Medicaid fraud at Harrisonburg Health & Rehabilitation Center—ten weeks of confirmed violations, photographic evidence, and formal complaints. Ten weeks of giving you all the benefit of the doubt.
And what have we gotten in return?
Crickets. Glorious, bipartisan, taxpayer-funded crickets.
To our elected officials: I do hope you’ve had a lovely week, perhaps enjoyed another ceremonial ribbon cutting or posed with a well-behaved dog for social media. Meanwhile, not one of you—not one—has moved to introduce emergency legislation to stop the abuse of elderly and disabled Virginians in your care.
Delegate Terry Austin still hasn’t responded to a single email. (Though I was blocked on Facebook for the offense of asking him to do his job—such bravery.) And Senator Mark Obenshain, bless his heart, continues to post about public safety while somehow finding “emergency elder abuse legislation” a logistical inconvenience. His office told a grieving family it would be “too difficult.” Not impossible—just inconvenient. You know. Like compassion.
And to the press: I’d like to extend a warm thank you for your steadfast commitment to ignoring this story. Truly. We are all in awe of your ironclad ability to scroll past confirmed elder abuse and taxpayer fraud without even a flicker of curiosity.
A few questions for your editorial meetings (if you’re still having those):
• Is there a reason a facility with documented violations and confirmed cases of sepsis and MRSA caused by neglect doesn’t merit a single headline?
• Does Medicare and Medicaid fraud only become interesting when a celebrity commits it?
• Or have we just collectively decided that unless there’s a dead body and a Netflix deal, it’s not worth the ink?
The silence from both the General Assembly and the media is no longer just negligent—it is complicity, dressed in apathy and accessorized with “thoughts and prayers.”
I’ll say this again—clearly, slowly, and for those in the back of the committee room:
People are suffering right now.
Laws are being broken right now.
And you are doing nothing.
Let me spell out the bare minimum for you—since the bar seems to be on the floor:
1. Revoke Harrisonburg Health & Rehabilitation Center’s license.
2. Pass Dale’s Law. (Yes, the bill I’ve been shouting about for ten weeks while you “review” yet another commemorative license plate.)
3. Launch a full, public investigation into the abuse, neglect, and fraud plaguing Virginia’s long-term care system—and the campaign finance web that enables it.
This is your moment. For the lawmakers: to act like public servants instead of photo booth mannequins. For the journalists: to rediscover your spine—and maybe your press credentials.
The residents in these facilities can’t wait. But judging by your behavior, it seems you’re hoping they’ll die quietly enough that you won’t have to deal with it at all.
Unfortunately for you, I’m not going away. And neither is the truth.
Sincerely,
Victoria Jackson
Constituent | CNA | Long-Term Care Advocate
Author of Dale’s Law: The Virginia Long-Term Care Quality and Nursing Admissions Reform Act of 2025