People in the health care field have worked their tails off since the COVID pandemic hit Iowa with a vengeance in 2020.

Doctors, nurses and all manner of technicians and support staff have performed heroically under circumstances that often were trying.

But the death this year of a patient at a Centerville care center has struck a chord with many Iowans – and not just because COVID claimed another life. The reaction has ranged from sadness to anger because the person’s treatment was unprofessional, uncaring and incompetent, if not bordering on criminal.

Clark Kauffman, deputy editor at...