Follow-up On Massachusetts VA
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Holyoke Soldiers’ Home – AP photo
This is a follow-up on the deaths of vets at a VA vets’ residence: two upper level employees are now facing criminal charges.
The link to the this part of the story is here: https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2020/09/25/2-former-leaders-charged-for-handling-of-virus-outbreak-at-veterans-home/
BOSTON (AP) — Two former administrators of a Massachusetts veterans home where nearly 80 people sickened by the coronavirus died have been charged for their handling of the outbreak, the state’s attorney general said Friday.
It’s believed to be the first criminal case in the country brought against nursing home officials for actions taken during the pandemic, Attorney General Maura Healey said.
Former Holyoke Soldiers’ Home Superintendent Bennett Walsh and former Medical Director Dr. David Clinton were indicted by a grand jury on charges stemming from their decision in March to combine two dementia units, packing residents who were COVID-19 positive into the same space as those with no symptoms, Healey said.
The veterans “risked their lives from the beaches of Normandy, to some the jungles of Vietnam and to know that they died under the most horrific circumstances is truly shocking,” Healey told reporters.
A phone message was left Friday with a lawyer for Walsh. An email was sent to attorneys for Clinton. They could each face prison time if convicted of charges of causing or permitting serious bodily injury or neglect of an elder, Healey said. – article
In addition, there’s the boondoggle going on in New Jersey re: veterans’ homes:
From the article: TRENTON, N.J. — Gov. Phil Murphy dismissed New Jersey’s top military commander Friday after a coronavirus outbreak hit the state’s three veterans homes resulting in 146 deaths.
Col. Lisa Hou takes over immediately from Maj. Gen. Jemal Beale, Murphy said in a statement.
Murphy, a Democrat, faces criticism from Republicans who continue to call for a legislative review of the governor’s handling of the outbreak. He didn’t give a reason for Beale’s dismissal.
Hou, who served as a field surgeon in Afghanistan and Iraq, succeeds Beale, who was sworn into the post in 2018. – article
There seems to be all kinds of bad behavior going on, including Cuomo’s very tawdry handling of CV19 deaths in New York. Aside from the greed factor, the lack of simple decency is lifted to an appalling level by these creatures. They all deserve whatever punishment they get, whether it’s in real life or the hereafter. Some day, they will die, and no one will remember their names or care.
Category: "Teh Stoopid", "Your Tax Dollars At Work", COVID-19
They need to be charged, convicted, and imprisoned.
And by they, I mean the governors and public health officials who green lighted this shit.
Cuomo, Wolf, Murphy, and Baker, just for starters.
This hits very close to home. One of our commenters lost a family member there due to the mishandling of virus victims. I’ll not say more out of respect to the lost loved ones, and the families involved.
My father in law was one of those vets who succumbed to this debacle at the Soldier’s home.
My issue with this isn’t charging these two men, as they seem to be stooges who were put in place by the Boston political elite precisely because they wouldn’t ask questions.
In 2015 Paul Barabani, by all accounts a good and decent man, decided to resign although the pretense was that he would retire. His information regarding the lack of the cooperation from Boston in supporting the home is at the root of this entire issue.
Criminal charges against these two men are merely scapegoating figureheads who had no real power and had to beg Boston for everything.
The real issue is that there will be no accountability for the politicians behind this debacle, the reality of a one party state.
Scapegoating these two doesn’t actually fix anything, it’s simply a way for the politicians to pretend they’ve done something.
Here’s a link to the Paul Barabani (former head of the Soldier’s Home) from 2015 where it goes into some of the detail regarding his concerns. Governor Baker is the common denominator since 2015.
https://www.wamc.org/post/state-support-holyoke-soldiers-home-questioned
I’m very sorry for your loss.
Lived up there(stationed)near 40 years ago, and it seems nothing has changed.
If anything, the MA miracle as Dukakis used to call it has spread.
There are similar things going on in my state, but my governor has skated from any and all scrutiny.
Condolences to you, and all of your family.
I have a bit of intel into the nursing home situation here because of a relative working in it.
All politicians ever do is pretend. Well, except one glaring exception.
I have to hope there is a special place for them someday or I’d go mad.
VoV:
Wow…am so sorry this happened..Condolences…
VoV, again, our sympathies to you and your Family in your loss. And you are 100% correct in your assessment of what happened and what is going to happen. The ones that are responsible for these deaths will not be held liable and will probably be returned to office. After all, a murderer was returned time and time again to the Senate from this state. It is a real tragedy that the good folks of MA cannot override the votes of the POSes that continue to elect these type of “leaders.”
In spite of his warts, Guv Kemp of GA sent the NG troops in immediately, before the bug started taking hold, and provided ALL of the nursing homes in the state with the support that was needed.
One of the things being held up by Pelosi in Stimulus two is a Nursing Strike Force. I think the idea is a bunch of not-at-risk nurses, and maybe some other specialties in each state to descend on these nursing home outbreaks like a Rapid Response Team.
I just read a blurb about it. It’d sure be nice. Probably take awhile to get it up and running though.