The Justice Department has opened an investigation into a Massachusetts nursing home for veterans where so far 28 have died of the coronavirus.
The Soldiers' Home in Holyoke, Mass., is being investigated to determine if the facility violated the rights of its veteran residents by "failing to provide them adequate medical care generally, and during, the coronavirus pandemic," the DoJ said in a news release Friday.
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“Our hearts go out to the families of the veterans who passed away,” Eric Dreiband, assistant attorney general for Civil Rights, said in a statement. “We owe it to the veterans, their families, and the public to investigate the facts, determine what happened, ensure compliance with the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, and protect those veterans who continue to reside at the Soldiers’ Home.”
Investigators will work to determine whether there were any violations of the Constitution and federal law in the state-run nursing home. This investigation will be separate from any state or independent investigation, according to DoJ. Gov. Charlie Baker already ordered an investigation into the nursing home.
“It would be difficult to overstate our obligation to the health and well-being of elderly and disabled military veterans and, by extension, to their families," U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling said. "We will aggressively investigate recent events at the Home and, as needed, require the Commonwealth to adopt reforms to ensure patient safety in the future. My condolences to the families of those veterans who died while in the Home’s care; we will get to the bottom of what happened here.”
The first case of COVID-19 at the nursing home was found on March 21. As of Friday, 28 had died, and at least 69 veterans and 68 employees had tested positive.
Some of the veterans who tested negative have been moved out of the home.
Bennett Walsh, a retired Marine and superintendent of the nursing home, was suspended during the investigations. He said he kept state officials updated and requested help but was denied.
“State officials knew that Holyoke needed as much help as possible," Walsh said in an earlier statement. "No one was kept in the dark."
But the governor said in a previous press briefing that he wasn't told about the outbreak at the nursing home until March 29 -- a week after the first positive case was found and after two deaths.
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