25 Investigates: Exclusive access inside Holyoke Soldiers’ Home’s transformation 5 years after COVID

5 years ago, the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home became one of the epicenters of the COVID-19 crisis. 84 veterans lost their lives during the Spring of 2020.

Transforming the facility has been a big focus for Massachusetts leaders.

25 Investigates spent years documenting the ‘catastrophic’ mistakes in care and the lawsuits and criminal charges that were ultimately dismissed.

Now, Boston 25 News anchor and investigative reporter Kerry Kavanaugh is taking us for an exclusive look inside the future, new state-run home for veterans.

We’re also hearing from family members who hope their devastating losses won’t be forgotten.

Hard lessons learned

It was a Thursday afternoon inside the Massachusetts Veterans Home at Holyoke, formerly the Holyoke Soldiers Home. The mood was as light as the balloons residents were tossing as part of a physical activity.

For residents like U.S. Navy veteran Roger Cote, community means everything when home becomes a place like this.

“Never thought in my life I would look forward to bingo,” the 77-year-old Cote told Kavanaugh. “You know how you make an old lady swear? Call bingo before she does.”

“People are great. I mean, if you need anything, they’re there for you,” said 83-year-old U.S. Air Force veteran, Bob Aucoin.

But days in Holyoke here weren’t always so light.

“The COVID changed a lot of things. Big time,” said Cote.

Cote and Auchoin survived the dark days of the COVID-19 pandemic inside the building.

“I was bedridden for a while and I didn’t think I’d ever walk again, but they got me going, said Auchoin.

But 84 fellow veteran residents lost their lives during the spring of 2020.

It was chaos marred by questionable medical decisions like consolidating patient rooms, in particular two dementia units, and shutting off the home to families and leaving them with little to no communication.

“I think my goal coming into this position was to really make sure that something that happened during COVID would never ever happen again,” said Jon Santiago the Massachusetts Secretary of Veterans Services. “It‘s incredibly important. These are veterans who have given their life to service, who care so much about the community, about this home. I mean, this is an iconic institution for Western Mass, and that‘s what I’ve learned over the past couple of years.”

Santiago wasn’t in this role in 2020, but he was on the frontlines of the pandemic as an emergency room doctor in Boston.

In an exclusive interview with 25 Investigates, Santiago, a veteran himself said change had to start with the culture at the top.

“Meeting with staff, nurses, providers, CNAs, veterans, their families to let them I don’t know that. I’m here with you. I see you. I hear you,” Santiago said.

There were also some basic updates long overdue. The Soldiers’ Home was operating with paper charts in 2020. Now medical records are digital. The home became licensed by the state Department of Public Health last year opening it up to state inspections.

“We are not yet CMS certified, but we’ve had our survey. Our plans of corrections have been accepted. Our desk audit has been approved. So, CMS has asked us to update our application with some new signatures, and then we should be good to go,” said Michael Lazo, the home’s executive director.

“Never in a hundred years would I think I’d be sitting in the seat I am today,” Lazo said.

Lazo first came to the home March 30th, 2020, with the Massachusetts National Guard. They were the relief for overworked and sick staff members. He says in his new role he has witnessed a successful transformation.

“I think it‘s a success story. I think we’ve come tremendously far. Our team is unbelievable. I’m probably the luckiest guy in the world with the people I have working here.”

Families say they can feel the difference.

“They’re involving the veterans. Like they have a town hall meeting,” said Sandy. She asked that we not use her last name. But the western Massachusetts woman says her husband, a Vietnam veteran also survived the outbreak, and he still lives at the home today.

“I think it makes them feel like they have say,” she said.

Sandy also said she felt her husband got great care even in during the toughest times.

“The love, the care, and the family feeling that‘s here, you don’t get in most places,” she said. “I think the new building is the biggest honor we can give to those that we lost.”

‘We can’t let it happen again’

Construction continues up on the hill in Holyoke for what will become the new Massachusetts Veterans Home at Holyoke.

25 Investigates got an exclusive look inside the building where 234 residents will live here. 212 will have single occupancy rooms. The design meant to be more open, more communal and the individual rooms more like home. A great room will open to a terrace overlooking the hills.

“He would have been proud. I wish he had lived to see it. I think that it would be nice for the families to see,” said Cheryl Turgeon.

Her dad Dennis Turgeon was a Korean War veteran. He survived the initial wave of COVID-19 but was sick. He died about six months after the initial outbreak.

“He really suffered, he didn’t, he ever walked. He lost 30 pounds, he became depressed,” he said.

Turgeon said her father was never the same.

“We do learn after the fact and it‘s those things that hurt the most,” Cheryl Maladrino’s father-in-law Harry Maladrinos died that spring.

He served in Korea in the Navy and died just shy of his 90th birthday.

“We just need not to forget what happened there because we can’t let it happen again,” said Maladrinos. “They were willing to put their lives on the line for all of us and they deserve our best care.”

“This building that that‘s happening on here, the infrastructure, it‘s great. Fancy walls, new amenities. That‘s awesome,” Santiago said. “But it‘s the people that make the building run. I’m not suggesting that mission is accomplished by any means, but there’s been a serious transformation here and that‘s because of the leadership of the staff here. Working in collaboration with the veterans and their families,”

“That is our hope, that‘s our future,” said family member, Sandy.

The future in a new home where the Massachusetts renewed commitment to its veterans can be fulfilled. It is slated to open in the fall of 2026.

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