Feds To Probe Holyoke Soldiers' Home After Coronavirus Deaths

HOLYOKE, MA — Following more than 30 deaths so far during the coronavirus outbreak, the U.S. Attorney in Boston said Friday that his office will investigate whether the Holyoke Soldiers' Home violated the rights of its residents.

The investigation will focus on whether the Soldiers' Home failed to provide adequate medical care for the residents, federal officials said.

"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 in a news release Friday. "The federal Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act specifically protects the rights of those confined in state facilities like the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home."

The federal investigation will parallel a state investigation being conducted by Attorney General Maura Healey.

As of Thursday night, 32 Holyoke Soldiers' Home residents had died, and 28 of them had tested positive for the new coronavirus. Sixty-nine more residents and 68 staffers have also tested positive.

The federal investigation will be conducted under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, Lelling said, which applies to institutions like nursing homes. He said that the investigation could result in state-level reforms at soldiers' homes.

"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," he said.

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