In the News

BOSTON — Trustees of the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke have endorsed multiple recommendations made in a highly critical state investigation into dozens of coronavirus-related deaths at the facility for aging veterans.

The board of trustees met by teleconference Tuesday for the first time since the report was released on June 24, Masslive.com reported.

Members passed 13 resolutions to make widespread improvements to the operations and management of the home.

They also passed a second package of reform plans calling on state officials to update the building to meet infection control standards, fill the now-vacant state director of Veterans Services position quickly with an experienced health care leader, and provide funding for a new electronic record-keeping system.

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The leadership of the home made several “utterly baffling” decisions that allowed the disease to run rampant, investigators said in the report. In all, 76 veterans who contracted COVID-19 at the home have died.

Meanwhile, on Beacon Hill, legislators were backing off considering a bill from Gov. Charlie Baker proposing oversight and governance changes at the home after being told by former administrators Tuesday that his proposals did not go far enough and that plans for the home needed more public input.

House Speaker Robert DeLeo indicated Tuesday he’d like to take a longer-term approach to reforming the oversight of the soldiers’ homes in both Holyoke and Chelsea, beginning with a legislative investigation into Holyoke.

U.S. Rep. Richard Neal weighed in on the Holyoke home’s problems Wednesday, saying he’s spoken to Baker about the need to commit significant funding to upgrade the 68-year-old facility, where his uncle is recovering from COVID-19.

Neal said he visited the home as recently as two weeks ago to talk with staff and see his uncle, a veteran of the Korean War who Neal said is “on the mend.”

Asked if there has been sufficient accountability for the leadership at the facility that allowed COVID-19 to spread quickly through the home, Neal said he is awaiting follow-up investigations from the attorney general, the U.S. attorney and the Legislature.

“I’ve also encouraged the governor to take a very aggressive role in capital investment at the facility. It needs a massive upgrade,” he said. Neal commented on the response to the Soldiers’ Home outbreak during an appearance Wednesday on WBUR.

Neal said he knows from his visits to the dementia unit at the home that the veterans “sat on top of each other,” making it easy for the virus to spread.

“Those visits would remind you that the facility was built in a different age,” he said. “It was very old. The contagion swept through the building, almost like a fire.”