Massachusetts lawmakers push Charlie Baker for more beds at revamped Holyoke Soldiers’ Home

Dozens of Beacon Hill lawmakers are joining advocates’ calls for more beds at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home amid growing concern that plans for a new, smaller facility will be insufficient to care for those who’ve served.

“If the choice is between filling a vacancy or turning a veteran way, the choice is abundantly clear,” the bipartisan group of more than 80 lawmakers wrote to Gov. Charlie Baker on Tuesday in a letter that ramped up criticism of the state’s plan for a scaled-back facility.

The letter was led by state Sen. John Velis, D-Westfield, who serves on the legislative committee investigating the deadly coronavirus outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home that killed 76 veterans last spring. Another veteran who had been residing at an off-site medical facility died in the fall, bringing the death toll to 77.

“It’s really simple to me — 30 to 40 years from now, when a veteran’s family member calls the home and says ‘I want to get in,’ I think it’s a much better situation to say we have a vacancy than saying we’re filled,” Velis told the Herald.

Lawmakers said they are “deeply troubled and greatly concerned” by proposals for a smaller facility put forward by architectural firm Payette in a needs assessment filed with the state last fall.

Payette initially proposed a 180- to 204-bed facility to replace the existing 247-bed facility, saying a “slightly smaller” facility would support a projected decline in the veteran census by 2035 while also allowing for more veterans currently on the waitlist to receive care. The firm eventually settled on 192 beds as a good amount.

But state legislators argued that’s “not sufficient to support the future needs of veterans, given the prospect of future conflicts or wars” that could increase the veteran population “exponentially.”

Lawmakers also indicated the facility’s waitlist is larger than it seems, saying Payette’s count of 41 veterans currently looking for a bed failed to take into account the 46 veterans who died while waiting for a spot to open up, let alone the six veterans who requested to be removed from the facility after the viral outbreak.

“It is unrealistic to foresee a smaller number of beds needed at the Soldiers’ Home,” the lawmakers wrote.

The lawmakers applauded Payette’s recommendation of an Adult Day Health Care Program at the home, which advocates have been seeking for years. But they said “we do not believe it will compensate for any reduced bed number.” They also called for a behavioral health unit.

Velis and his colleagues urged the Baker administration to consider alternative proposals ahead of the April 15 federal grant application deadline. Advocates last week called on the state to apply for a 280-bed home with private rooms.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/36EK5Ae