In the News

U.S. Reps. Joe Kennedy III and Richard Neal proposed an overhaul of federal safety standards at soldiers’ homes nationwide on Tuesday, building on a Kennedy proposal earlier this year after the COVID-19 pandemic took the lives of 76 veterans at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home.

The Holyoke Veteran’s Act calls for improved qualifications among administrative leaders and significantly broader oversight of soldiers’ homes. The bill would require administrators or deputy superintendents at soldiers’ homes to maintain a medical license similar to those held by skilled nursing facility administrators.

If the act becomes law, governing bodies at the homes must be more than a single person and, like state long-term care facilities, all soldiers’ homes will have to employ an infection preventionist.

The proposed new rules come a month after two former administrators were arraigned on criminal neglect charges linked to the deadly outbreak at the state-run facility in Holyoke. Of the roughly 210 veterans who were living at the home since the outbreak began, 76 died of COVID-19 and dozens more tested positive, prompting Kennedy to propose sweeping reforms back in May.

“What happened in Holyoke makes clear: We failed to keep safe heroes who dedicated their lives to protecting us,” Kennedy said in a statement. “No action today can undo the harm our nation caused, but in honor of those we lost — and all who loved them — we can act aggressively to fix the gaping holes in oversight, accountability and basic safety that this pandemic exposed. The Holyoke Veterans Act will help save lives today, as COVID continues to soar across the country, and will ensure a similar tragedy cannot ever again occur.”

According to the act, each facility will be required to submit annual emergency plans to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Government Accountability Office must produce a report on how the VA could bolster oversight and safety.

“The tragedy at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home was personal to me,” Congressman Richard E. Neal, Chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, said in a statement.

Neal’s uncle is a resident of the home who survived after being diagnosed with the virus, “but so many others were not as fortunate,” he said.

“There must be accountability for what happened at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home and other facilities across the country where our heroes live, and this legislation is a very important step to achieve that,” Neal added. “We made a promise to care for our veterans after they fought for us. And that cannot ever be forgotten.”

Onetime Superintendent Bennett Walsh and his top medical adviser, Dr. David Clinton, entered not guilty pleas on 10 criminal neglect charges during a remote proceeding in Hampden Superior Court in November.

Boston-based design firm Payette Associates recently said renovations at the facility could cost up to $303 million. Past administrators in Holyoke pleaded with state officials for years to make improvements to the mid-century building and to boost funding for clinical staff.