HOLYOKE – There have been apologies and announcements of investigations, but these may not be comforting to families who have lost loved ones from COVID-19 at the Holyoke Soldiers Home.

As of April 4, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services released a statement there have been at least 22 veterans deaths at the Holyoke Soldiers Home. Of those 22 veterans, 16 tested positive for COVID-19 with three tests still pending, two were negative and one is unknown.
The Board of Trustees for the Home was supposed to meet on April 4, but delayed the meeting until April 11.

Holyoke Medical Center announced on April 3 it “welcomed 40 Soldier’s Home residents in response to a request for assistance from the Executive Office of Health and Human Services.” In order to accommodate this request, The Birthing Center and the outpatient Cardiovascular Center at Holyoke Medical Center have been converted to house these residents.

“Holyoke Medical Center maternity patients will temporarily be delivering at the Family Life Center at Mercy Medical Center in Springfield. The outpatient Cardiovascular Center has also been temporarily relocated to 2 Hospital Dr., Suite 203.

“We were asked if we could accommodate Soldiers Home residents in our facility and are responding to the request to assist in any way we possibly can,” said Spiros Hatiras, president and CEO of Holyoke Medical Center and Valley Health Systems. “These are unprecedented times and we have a duty to help any and all that need our assistance and an additional level of duty to assist our veterans.’”

The deaths have shocked the region and have brought about the paid administrative leave of the home’s superintendent, Bennett Walsh, a retired Marine Corps Lt. Colonel, and the announcement by Gov. Charlie Baker there will be an investigation into the situation by Attorney Mark W. Pearlstein, who, according to the governor’s office “has substantial experience in the investigation and trial of complex white-collar criminal cases and other government enforcement matters.”

Walsh released the following statement: “I am filled with grief and sorrow for all the veterans who have died and I extend my sincere sympathies to their families.

Gov. Charlie Baker has stated that he will review all the facts to determine everything that happened at the Soldiers Home. I am grateful that he will do so and I look forward to participating in that review. During this crisis all our decisions were informed by the available CDC and DPH guidelines on COVID-19.

“At no time did I, or anyone on my staff, hide, conceal or mislead anyone regarding the tragic impact of the virus and it would be outrageous for anyone to even think of doing such a thing.
“I was notified that a veteran had tested positive for the COVID-19 for the first time on Saturday night March 21. The next day my staff called the family of every veteran at the Soldiers Home to inform them that a veteran had tested positive for the coronavirus. Our focus then, and always, was on the veterans and their families.

“Thereafter we provided regular updates to state officials about the number of tests and the results of the testing. We were all frustrated that the test results were often not available for three or four days and there was a delay between the time of death and confirmation of the presence of the Coronavirus. I regret any uncertainty that such delays produced.

“I thank the staff for their dedication and hard work on behalf of our veterans and I again extend my sympathy to those who have lost a loved one. I look forward to the end of the crisis in the days ahead.”

The experiences of one family in Hampden County underscores the hurt, confusion and frustration that has caused by the way the death of their loved one was handled by the staff of the Home.
The couple agreed to speak to Reminder Publishing anonymously. For the clarity of telling their story, the couple will be referred to as “Sally” and “Steve.”

Sally’s father was a resident of the home. She said she received a letter on March 12 stating the Home was taking precautions against a potential COVID-19 outbreak by closing all but one entrance, restricting visiting hours and the number of visitors.

She said that on March 21, she received a call from staff at the Home to tell her father, who for this story will be called “Bob,” had several minor falls and was “weak but fine.” She was assured there were no underlying problems.

On March 22, Sally and Steve received notification there was one veteran who had tested positive and was in quarantine with no visitors.

The couple were frequent visitors and also communicated to Bob through Facetime. On March 23 they had a Facetime conversation and Bob seemed confused and sleepy, but said he was fine. On March 25, Sally received a call from a social worker at the Home telling her Bob had a low-grade fever and was not feeling well.

On March 27, Sally received another call from a social worker who told her she needed to come to the Home as her father was very ill.

“What happened between Wednesday and Friday?” Sally now asks.

After calling her siblings, Sally and her husband rushed to the home, where she was admitted into the lobby, but Steve was not. He was told to wait outside.

A nurse informed her there was COVID-19 in the building, took Sally’s temperature, asked her several health questions, gave her protective clothing and had her sign several documents before bringing her up to see her father.

He had been moved into a different room with four other residents and Sally said, “I was astonished. It was like a war zone.” She added she had never seen so many members of the Home’s medical staff in one area before.

Her father couldn’t breathe and was in great distress, waving his arms in the air.

“You could tell he was in absolute pain,” Sally said.

Her father had a do not resuscitate order in place, so the decision was made not to transport him to a hospital, Sally explained. He did not want any extraordinary measures to extend his life.

“He was in very bad shape. He couldn’t breathe. He was very scared,” she said. The medical staff administered morphine in an effort to make him comfortable.

She was with him for three and half hours.

Both she and her husband were told when they arrived home to immediately strip off their clothes, shower thoroughly and wash their clothing. If either of them showed any signs of the virus they should call their doctor.

They received a call an hour later that Bob had passed.

Sally wanted to know more about what had happened to her father and called the social workers at the home. “You get nobody,” she said. She then called the hotline number for families, and that brought her to the main switchboard at the home. The operator said she didn’t know which office to connect her to.

Her father had been tested for COVID-19 but she has not received any confirmation. The death certificate noted the passing was from pneumonia, which he supposedly contracted 10 days previous. This was the first time she had been told Bob had pneumonia, much less that he had suffered from it for 10 days.

She has tried the family hotline again and received a message that the voice mailbox was full.
As of the writing of this story on April 5, she has not received any callbacks or further information.
Sally emphasized the care and the professionalism of the medical staff and said nurses frequently are held over from one shift to another if there are absences. There are also supply shortages.
“They are a wonderful bunch of people,” she said. “They were just overwhelmed.”

At press time, the couple told Reminder Publishing they had finally heard, with the assistance of state Sen. Eric Lesser’s office, that her father was positive for COVID-19.