Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey announced Friday that criminal neglect charges have been filed against both the former superintendent of the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke as well as its former medical director for their alleged roles in a COVID-19 outbreak that led to the deaths of at least 76 residents at the state-run facility, which provides long-term care and other services to ageing veterans.
“We began this investigation on behalf of the families who lost loved ones under tragic circumstances and to honor these men who bravely served our country,” Healey said in a statement. “We allege that the actions of these defendants during the COVID-19 outbreak at the facility put veterans at higher risk of infection and death and warrant criminal charges.”
Bennett Walsh, 50, of Springfield, Massachusetts, and Dr. David Clinton, 71, of South Hadley, Massachusetts, were indicted Thursday by a statewide grand jury on five counts each for the charge of caretaker who wantonly or recklessly commits or permits bodily injury to an elder or disabled person and another five counts each for the charge of caretaker who wantonly or recklessly commits or permits abuse, neglect, or mistreatment to an elder or disabled person. Walsh and Clinton will be arraigned in Hampden County Superior Court at a later date, according to the attorney general’s office.
Prosecutors allege that the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke, faced with staffing shortages, decided on March 27 to consolidate two dementia units into one, resulting in the placement of symptomatic — including those who had confirmed cases of COVID-19 — and asymptomatic residents within feet of each other. Prosecutors allege that those decisions, which they say were ultimately the responsibility of Walsh and Clinton, were reckless and increased the likelihood that asymptomatic veterans would contract COVID-19 and put them at higher risk of death and harm.
ABC News’ Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.
