Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey has announced a total of 20 criminal charges against two former leaders of the Holyoke Soldiers' Home in connection with the coronavirus outbreak that killed 76 veterans at the facility this year.
Former Superintendent Bennett Walsh and former Medical Director David Clinton face 10 charges each of causing serious bodily injury or neglect of an elder for their decision to consolidate two dementia units during the pandemic. Healey says a total of 42 veterans, some of whom had COVID-19, were cramped into a space usually meant for 25 beds.
"The home decided to put six or seven veterans in rooms that were meant to hold only four people. And because there wasn't enough space in these overcrowded rooms for all the veterans, the home placed nine beds in a dining room."
Healey says the case particularly focuses on five veterans in that dining room, three of whom contracted COVID-19, and one who died of the virus. If convicted, Walsh and Clinton could both face prison time.
