Massachusetts Probes Deaths, Outbreak At Veterans Hospital Where Illnesses Were Allegedly Kept Secret
The facility's administrator has been put on paid leave after at least six people have died at the state-funded hospital. The state investigation started Wednesday after the Holyoke mayor received a tip on deaths that weren't made public.
Boston Globe:
Accusations Swirl At Holyoke Veterans Hospital, Mayor Says Coronavirus Outbreak Was Kept Secret Even As Death Toll Rose
The anonymous tip landed Saturday in Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse’s office, a phone complaint about unhealthy conditions at the Soldiers’ Home, a hilltop complex where veterans go for walk-in medicine, long-term care, and occasionally to die in hospice among their comrades. A nurse with the city’s health board called the Soldiers’ Home that day but got no response. The next day, Morse reached out directly to Bennett Walsh, the facility’s superintendent, and received the devastating news. The coronavirus outbreak had descended upon the 68-year-old complex, and veterans were dying rapidly. They had been dying since the first of the month, and on Tuesday the toll reached 13 fatalities, with at least six due to the virus. Pending tests could show a link to others of the dead, as well. (MacQuarrie, Martin, Stout and Krueger, 3/31)
The Wall Street Journal:
Massachusetts Investigates Coronavirus Outbreak At Veterans’ Home
Former federal prosecutor Mark Pearlstein will lead an independent probe into the deaths at the state-funded facility, Gov. Charlie Baker said Wednesday. State officials say they didn’t know about the outbreak until Sunday night and that the facility’s administrator has been put on paid leave. “We are going to make sure Mark and his team have access to all the services and all the people that they need access to to get to the bottom of what took place,” Mr. Baker said during a news conference Wednesday. (Kamp, 4/1)
Boston Globe:
His Grief Mixed With Anger, Son Watches Father Die At Holyoke Soldiers’ Home
Patrick Plourde sat beside his father’s bed Wednesday at the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke, his face and body covered in protective gear as he kept vigil for the inevitable. His 88-year-old father, a former Air Force master sergeant from Westfield, lay dying in a hospice ward — unconscious, on morphine, and showing symptoms of coronavirius, Patrick said in a phone interview as he watched over his father. (MacQuarrie, 4/1)
WBUR:
'It Didn't Have To Get That Bad': Veteran Service Officer Says Problems At Holyoke Soldiers' Home Go Way Back
Veterans' advocates are raising concern about the care vets are receiving at the Soldiers' Home in Holyoke. The nursing facility is run by the state Department of Veterans' Services. Thirteen veterans have died at the facility in recent days. Six are confirmed to have had COVID-19. One tested negative for the coronavirus, and the other results are pending. So far, 10 additional residents and seven staffers have tested positive. (Joliocoeur and Mullins, 3/31)
Boston Globe:
Soldiers Homes Sprung From National Effort To Care For Wounded, Aged Veterans
Perched atop Cherry Hill in Holyoke, it’s a landmark for drivers along Interstate 91 — a symbol of “care and honor and dignity,” as the mission statement goes. The Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, established in 1952, rests on 23 acres on property that was valued at the time at around $3 million, according to news reports from that same year. At an opening ceremony, Governor Paul A. Dever called the home “a monument to the faith of Massachusetts for her veterans.” The state-funded home for veterans finds itself in the spotlight after officials said 13 residents had died recently, six of whom tested positive for COVID-19. (Berg, 4/1)
