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.
3 months ago in Local Denise Vozella Photo: WHMP
BOSTON (AP) – Gov. Charlie Baker says Massachusetts has administered about 117,000 first doses of the two coronavirus vaccines, about 70,000 of which have gone to hospital workers directly dealing with the pandemic. Baker said during a visit to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield on Tuesday that some 287,000 doses have already been shipped to Massachusetts. Dr. Mark Keroack, president and CEO of Baystate Health, said there have been fewer than 10 allergic reactions out of about 6,000 doses administered by the organization. Baker also said that a more virulent variant of the virus striking the United Kingdom is likely already in Massachusetts.
HOLYOKE (AP) Gov. Charlie Baker has named a new chairman for the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home board of trustees, replacing Kevin Jourdain with Maj. Gen. Gary W. Keefe, adjutant general of the Massachusetts National Guard.Jourdain on Monday confirmed to.
HOLYOKE, Mass. (Tribune News Service) All Francis “Skip” Hennessy wanted for Christmas was a ride home. The 82-year-old U.S. Army veteran settled in at the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke in late 2019. His mobility deteriorated after a fall. Mild dementia had taken hold. His daughter was comforted when her father won a bed at his twilight home of choice after 10 months on a waiting list. Initially, his move to the state-run facility was a bit rough. Staff were caring, albeit a little scant. The rooms were slightly cramped and threadbare. But by Christmas 2019 Hennessy donned a Santa hat and joined in the home’s holiday festivities, according to his daughter, Erin Schadel. Guilt over placing her father in a nursing home was replaced by relief.