Soldiers' Home in Holyoke

The Soldiers' Home in Holyoke is a full-service veterans center and hospital located in Holyoke, Massachusetts, which maintains 247 beds in its main nursing facility, and a separate domiciliary care building with 30 full-time residents. The facility provides long-term care and outpatient medical services, as well as dental and social services, and programming and events for veterans. Operated by the Massachusetts Department of Veterans' Services, it is inspected annually by both the state and the United States Department of Veterans' Affairs.[1]

Soldiers' Home in Holyoke
The Soldiers' Home campus atop Cherry Hill, as seen from I-91
Geography
Location110 Cherry Street, Holyoke, Massachusetts, United States
Coordinates42.1987185°N 72.6404414°W / 42.1987185; -72.6404414
Organization
Care systemPublic
FundingState
TypeVeterans' center
NetworkMassachusetts Department of Veterans' Services
Services
Beds277
History
OpenedApril 27, 1952 (dedicated)
Links
Websitewww.mass.gov/orgs/soldiers-home-in-holyoke
ListsHospitals in Massachusetts

In April 2020, at least 68 veterans—nearly 30 percent of the home's residents—died of COVID-19 in the deadliest outbreak at a long-term care facility in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic. A subsequent independent report found that poor infection control practices and chaotic decisionmaking promoted the spread of the virus within the home.[2] In response to the outbreak the facility is implementing a $2 million overhaul to redesign its floors, reducing the number of beds to 160 in compliance with distancing guidelines.[3][4]

History

The creation of the Soldiers' Home was a prolonged seven-year process; following the end of World War II, the Commonwealth saw an influx of wounded veterans requiring longterm care. At this time, more Federal facilities were in the process of being set up across the country and the only state facility designated for the task was the Soldiers' Home in Chelsea, which had been set up in 1882. In 1945 the Massachusetts General Court would pass several pieces of legislation, including allowing veterans on Chelsea's growing waiting list to be admitted to other hospitals, the expansion of that facility, and the construction of a new combined residence, community center, and hospital for veterans in the Central/Western regions of Massachusetts. Emphasis was put on the latter's location due to the fact that many veterans from as far away as Pittsfield would have to travel to the Boston area for care.[5]

After a prolonged debate on locations, the number of beds, and the services offered, by 1948 the Holyoke site had been selected. However funding and regulations had led the project to stall, and incoming Governor Paul A. Dever promised to make its construction a priority of his administration.[6] Several years later, the Soldiers' Home was dedicated on April 27, 1952 before a crowd of 15,000, including units from Westover Air Force Base, and former AMVETS national commander Harold Russell. At the facilities opening Governor Dever remarked "the scissors of false economy will never be used to cut the appropriations needed for the maintenance of this outstanding institution erected for the veterans of Massachusetts".[7][8]

Outbreak and deaths from COVID-19
Medics from the Massachusetts National Guard speak with sick residents in the Soldiers' Home on April 1, 2020, augmenting a shortage of staff

In April 2020, at least 68 residents of the Soldiers' Home in Holyoke died of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). It was the deadliest outbreak at a long-term care facility in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. Another 82 residents and 81 employees tested positive for the disease. In late March, there were 230 residents at the home; by April 29, only about 100 remained.[3]

An 174-page independent report was commissioned by the state in April and released on June 24.[9][2] It was strongly critical of superintendent Bennett Walsh for mishandling the outbreak by making decisions that were "utterly baffling from an infection-control perspective"[2][10] and "likely contributed to the death toll during the outbreak."[10]

Walsh, a retired U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant colonel, lacked prior experience in nursing homes[2] and had no medical background.[10] He had been superintendent of the home since 2016.[10] The report also determined that Massachusetts Secretary of Veteran Affairs Francisco Urena had failed to exercise proper oversight over the home to correct problems.[10][9] The report found that in late March, the home combined a floor of veterans with COVID-19 with a floor of veterans who did not have COVID-19, violating "a basic tenet of infection control" and overcrowding 40 veterans in a space designed for 25.[10] The report also identified a number of other substantially faulty decisions, including failing to isolate residents suspected to have been infected; failing to promptly close the facility's common areas; failing to test residents with symptoms, and rotating staff between units.[10] Among other personnel changes,[2][11] Walsh was placed on administrative leave in March,[10] and was fired in June after the release of the report.[12] Urena was forced to resign.[10][2] Governor Charlie Baker accepted all nine reforms proposed by the report and added three more, enacting some with executive action and filing some with the legislature as proposed changes to state law.[12]

On September 25, 2020, Attorney General Maura Healey announced that the former superintendent Bennett Walsh, and former medical director, David Clinton, were indicted by a grand jury on 5 charges each of "Wanton or Reckless Bodily Injury to an Elder or Disabled Person", related to practices alleged to have contributed to the deaths of 76 veterans' in the facility's care.[13] The charges against Walsh and Clinton were also described as, "...the first criminal case in the country brought against those involved in nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic," by Healey.[14]

Services provided

The Soldiers' Home provides services to eligible veterans residing in Massachusetts including outpatient services with physicians and nurse practitioners specializing in optometry, ophthalmology, dentistry, podiatry, urology, and hematology. The facility also maintains its own pharmacy.

Programming is also provided including, but not limited to, bingo, group outings, and social functions. Licensed social service workers also work in residents and members of the veteran community with outreach and coordination of services.[15]

The Chapin Mansion, a satellite facility operated by the Valley Opportunity Council jointly with the Soldiers' Home provides subsidized housing and services for previously-homeless veterans[16]

References
  1. Bump, Suzanne M (December 14, 2017). Official Audit Report; Soldiers' Home in Holyoke, for the period July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2016 (PDF) (Report). Office of the State Auditor, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 19, 2018.
  2. Ellen Barry, "'Total Pandemonium': What Went Wrong at a Veterans' Home Where 76 Died", The New York Times (June 24, 2020).
  3. Richer, Alanna Durkin (April 28, 2020). "Nearly 70 dead in 'horrific' outbreak at veterans home". Associated Press. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  4. Mollina, Hector (May 13, 2020). "$2M redesign project to be completed at Holyoke Soldiers' Home". WWLP 22 News.
  5. "Western Mass. Hospital". Springfield Republican. Springfield, Mass. May 4, 1945. p. 4.
  6. "Dever to Cut All 'Red Tape' In Erection of Soldiers Home". Boston Herald. December 28, 1948. p. 4.
  7. "Western Mass. Delegation to Urge Springfield Site". Springfield Republican. Springfield, Mass. November 20, 1945. p. 1.
  8. "Dedication of Soldiers' Home in Holyoke Attracts 15,000". Springfield Union. Springfield, Mass. April 28, 1952. p. 1.
  9. Steve Brown, "Baker Reacts to 'Gut-Wrenching' Holyoke Soldiers' Home Report", WBUR (June 24, 2020).
  10. Miriam Wasser, "State Report on Holyoke Soldiers' Home Finds 'Utterly Baffling' Management Missteps Exacerbated COVID Outbreak", WBUR (June 24, 2020).
  11. Chris Lisinski & Katie Lannan, "Damning report prompts ouster of Urena at VA", Herald News (June 24, 2020).
  12. "Baker Announces 12 Reforms After Scathing Report On Holyoke Soldiers' Home", WBUR (June 25, 2020).
  13. Gainey, Emalie (September 26, 2020). "AG Healey Announces Criminal Charges Against Superintendent and Former Medical Director of Holyoke Soldiers' Home for Their Roles in Deadly COVID-19 Outbreak". Mass.gov (Commonwealth of Massachusetts). Boston: Office of Attorney General Maura Healey.
  14. "2 indicted for handling of virus outbreak at Massachusetts veterans home where 76 died". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  15. "Services at the Soldiers' Home in Holyoke". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
  16. Canning, Paula. "Chapin Mansion Veterans House hosts open house". The Reminder. Chicopee, Mass.

Further reading
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