BOSTON – Governor Maura T. Healey and Lieutenant Governor Kimberley Driscoll today announced that they are appointing State Representative Jon Santiago to serve as Massachusetts’ first ever Secretary of the Executive Office of Veterans’ Services. Representative Santiago is a major in the U.S. Army Reserve, an emergency medicine physician at Boston Medical Center, a former volunteer in the Peace Corps, and has served as State Representative for the 9th Suffolk district since 2019. 
 
In 2022, the Massachusetts Legislature passed An Act relative to the governance, structure and care of veterans at the Commonwealth’s veterans’ homes in response to the devastating tragedy at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home in 2020.

The legislation made a number of key reforms, including creating the Executive Office of Veterans’ Services to be led by the Secretary of Veterans’ Services. Among the Secretary’s responsibilities include serving as the ultimate appointing authority of the superintendents of the state’s two veterans’ homes. The secretariat will be established on March 1, 2023, which is when Rep. Santiago will be sworn in as Veterans’ Services Secretary. 
  
“Representative Santiago has dedicated his life to serving his country – whether that’s volunteering for the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic, working in the emergency room throughout COVID, being deployed overseas with the U.S. Army Reserve, or advocating for increased access to housing, public transportation and substance use disorder treatment in the State House,” said Governor Healey. “His public health expertise and military service make him uniquely qualified to serve as Massachusetts’ first ever Secretary of Veterans’ Services. I’m confident that he will be the leader our veterans need and deserve and will always stand up for their health, safety and wellbeing.”