Nurses do not agree with the state s belief that a lack of preparation and infection control protocols was the biggest factor behind a tragic COVID-19 outbreak at Holyoke Soldiers Home.
Maj. Gen. Gary Keefe testified before a Special Legislative Oversight Committee on the Holyoke Soldiers' Home outbreak, telling members an initial call for help didn't reach his ranks.
Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders believes that a lack of preparation and infection control protocols, rather than staffing issues or the background of the Holyoke Soldiersâ Homeâs superintendent, was the biggest factor behind a tragic COVID-19 outbreak that struck the facility last spring.
Nurses who worked in the long-term care facility for veterans, however, do not agree.
Joan Miller, a member of the Massachusetts Nurses Association union and a registered nurse at the home, told lawmakers on Thursday that she thinks much of the suffering â at least 76 veteran deaths tied to a potent outbreak that hit in March 2020 â could have been avoided if state officials had hired someone licensed as a nursing home administrator to run the facility.
Holyoke Soldiers’ Home trustees soldier on under new leadership
Updated Jan 12, 2021;
HOLYOKE Maj. Gen. Gary W. Keefe led his first Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke board of trustees meeting Tuesday night, as leaders of the state-run care facility struggle to get out from under the dark cloud of the pandemic.
Keefe, adjutant general of the Massachusetts National Guard, replaced former Chairman Kevin Jourdain at the request of Gov. Charlie Baker. Jourdain will remain on the board until his term expires in 2025.
Baker told Jourdain he thought Keefe would have more status with federal elected officials to attract federal dollars since Keefe is often in the nation’s capital in his current position, Jourdain said during a previous interview.
By State House News Service
January 7, 2021
State House News Service
Members of the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus, joined by municipal officials, marched down Joy Street on June 2 from the historical African Meeting House to the front steps of the State House, where Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz (second from left) and Rep. Russell Holmes (center) helped outline a policy agenda to prevent police brutality. Sam Doran/SHNS photo
Let’s face it. There’s not much suspense over last year’s top story. Without officially giving it away, it arrived like an unwelcome visitor in early March and has refused to leave since, touching every part of daily life in Massachusetts, and overtaking its politics.