Holyoke veterans deserve more than a new building
What ails the Soldiersâ Home wonât be solved without a change in how it is led and governed.
By The Editorial BoardUpdated April 8, 2021, 2 hours ago
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An arial view of Soldier s Home in Holyoke.Blake Nissen for the Boston Globe
Fixing whatâs wrong at the Soldiersâ Home in Holyoke â and whatâs wrong, generally, when it comes to providing health care services to Massachusetts veterans â will take more than a new building.
Yet, even as a legislative oversight committee prepares an in-depth report, with a detailed list of policy recommendations, Governor Charlie Baker is moving ahead under the old rules to hire a superintendent to head the Holyoke facility. Lawmakers are also being pushed by Baker to approve a $400 million bond bill by April 15, in order to secure federal funding to replace a tired and worn facility.
By STEPHANIE BARRY | The Republican | Published: April 4, 2021 (Tribune News Service) State Rep. Michael Finn recalls the last legislative breakfast he attended at the Holyoke Soldiers Home before the pandemic. It was January 2020, just weeks before an outbreak transformed the state-run facility for aging veterans into a frightening show of the power of COVID-19. The event featured the usual menu of coffee, scrambled eggs, retail politicking and speeches. While the gathering hinted at nothing of what was to come, Finn, a six-term Democrat from West Springfield, noticed an odd dynamic: Bennett Walsh, superintendent of the Soldiers Home, and Francisco Ureña, the state s secretary of veterans services, were pointedly ignoring each other.
One year after COVID outbreak at Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, questions over accountability linger
Updated 5:00 AM;
State Rep. Michael Finn recalls the last legislative breakfast he attended at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home before the pandemic.
It was January 2020, just weeks before an outbreak transformed the state-run facility for aging veterans into a frightening show of the power of COVID-19. The event featured the usual menu of coffee, scrambled eggs, retail politicking and speeches.
While the gathering hinted at nothing of what was to come, Finn, a six-term Democrat from West Springfield, noticed an odd dynamic: Bennett Walsh, superintendent of the Soldiers’ Home, and Francisco Ureña, the state’s secretary of veterans’ services, were pointedly ignoring each other.
Idaho veterans home administrator Rick Holloway is trustees’ pick for Holyoke Soldiers’ Home superintendent
Updated Apr 01, 2021;
HOLYOKE Pending a final nod by Gov. Charlie Baker, Rick Holloway, administrator for a state veterans home in Boise, Idaho, will head east as the new superintendent of the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke.
Holloway prevailed over another finalist, Robert Engell, a Longmeadow resident and administrator of the Overlook Masonic Health Care Center in Charlton. Members of the selection committee agreed both candidates were qualified, but more than one said they saw Holloway as the more “transformational” of the two.
“Clearly Rick Holloway is head and shoulders above any other candidate . based, in part, on the pure depth of the answers he provided,” said Brig. Gen. Sean T. Collins, one of seven trustees of the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home.
Overview
The Chelsea Soldiers’ Home (CHE) was established in 1882 to provide various healthcare services to eligible Commonwealth veterans. Under Chapter 115A of the Massachusetts General Laws, CHE operates within the Department of Veterans’ Services, which is part of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services. CHE’s website states,
Our mission is to provide the highest level of comprehensive care, while always respecting the [psychosocial], spiritual and cultural needs for our veterans [and] their families, and always striving to extend comfort, dignity and responsive care to all of our patients.
CHE’s campus offers skilled nursing, care for veterans with Alzheimer’s disease, and other long-term care. CHE currently serves 293 veterans, of whom 121 are in a hospital and 172 live in dormitories. CHE also has a library, a barbershop, recreation rooms, a dining room, a canteen, and a pharmacy. Several religious services are also available to veterans. The campus has