Coalition seeks changes to Holyoke Soldiers’ Home legislation

Date: 3/8/2022

WESTERN MASS. – The Holyoke Soldiers’ Home Coalition of Veterans, Family Members, and Concerned Citizens, the volunteer group advocating for reform at the Holyoke and Chelsea soldiers homes is calling for support to changes to the current bill in the Senate that would strengthen a chain of command in the administration of the homes.

John Paradis of the Coalition explained to Reminder Publishing the organization has issues with the legislation passed by the House and is hoping for revisions to be made by the Senate and subsequently by a conference committee. Paradis said members of the group have met with the staff of state Sen. John Velis, as well as with state Sens. Jo Comerford, Eric Lesser and Adam Hinds.

“We’ve had a lot of dialogue,” Paradis said. He added that people in the group were “disappointed in the House bill. We didn’t think it would resolve some of the biggest issues.”

“We need a chain of command that will prevent another tragedy like the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 from occurring again. We need a chain of command that ensures a qualified superintendent is properly selected and then gives that person the authority to lead a medical team within a medical oversight structure and with a Board of Trustees governance model that works for the veteran residents and their family members – not the political system,” a statement from the Coalition noted.

Members of the organization are seeking the following changes:

• “Ensure the state Veterans’ homes comply with the Code of Federal Regulation with a Board of Trustees for each respective home serving as a governing body and which selects and evaluates respective superintendents and provides budgetary input to the legislative and executive branches of government.”
• “Reform the appointment process for the Trustees through a nomination process with prospective appointees being screened by a panel of community representatives such as members of the local municipal veterans’ services officers, members of congressionally chartered veterans’ organizations and family members and residents of the respective homes. We also recommend a democratic process whereby board members elect their own board chairperson.”

Paradis said there are still issues at the Soldiers Home. “We hear from staff and families the staff does not feel comfortable reporting [issues] for a fear of retaliation,” he said.

He believes a chain of command needs to be defined so staff can have the trust that issues they see are resolved, and if not, can be passed above the level of their immediate supervisor.

“This is a medical facility and needs to be treated as such,” he said.

Contact the Coalition at holyokesoldiershomecoalition@gmail.com.

On March 3, the Senate Ways and Means Committee favorably reported a new version of omnibus legislation filed in December by state Sen. Michael Rush and state Rep. Linda Dean Campbell, according to a report from the State House News Service. The issue is scheduled for debate on March 10. The news serviced reported the Senate bill more closely represents the original bill, which was “reworked” by Democrats in the state House of Representatives. Among key differences between the House and Senate bills is the role of the secretary of veterans’ services. The Senate legislation would elevate that to a Cabinet position while the House did away with that portion of its bill.

“The thinking is we wanted to be very clear that there is a very clear chain of command,” Senate Ways and Means Committee Chair Michael Rodrigues told the State House News Service. “The bill is all about accountability. And in order to ensure accountability, it requires a clearly articulated chain of command with checks and balances, and that’s what we believe our bill accomplishes.”

Velis, who serves as the Senate chair of the Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs, said of the Senate bill, “The far and away most important thing we heard from the oversight committee hearings, and then again during our hearings for the Veterans committee, is that the chain of command at our Soldiers’ Homes must be cleaned up to make it explicitly clear who reports to who. Chain of Command 101 dictates that the more layers you have, the more likely it is that breakdowns in communication occur. One of the things I think the Senate bill gets right is keeping the statewide council out the chain of command and making it explicitly advisory. I think this is a really good thing that will keep the chain from getting cluttered up and ambiguous.

“Additionally, this bill puts important infection control and medical procedures in place, including having a full-time infection control and emergency preparedness specialist who reports to the Superintendent, and requiring DPH to inspect the homes. Something we learned from the oversight committee’s investigation, and from the tragedies of spring 2020, is that is critical that the appropriate medical specialists have boots on the ground in our Soldiers’ Homes.The legislative process is still ongoing. I plan on filing amendments during the Senate’s debate and fighting to make this a better bill until the day it is signed into law.”