Holyoke Soldiers’ Home Study Targets Inadequate Nursing Home Staffing Standards

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on
LinkedIn
+

BOSTON – Standards enforced at the federal and state levels are insufficient to address chronic staffing issues reported by staff and residents’ families at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, making that facility particularly vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new Pioneer Institute research.

“State officials and leaders at the Soldiers’ Home seem to have applied the staffing standards correctly,” said Pioneer researcher Andrew Mikula, who co-authored “Understaffing at Long-Term Care Facilities Is Not Unique to the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home. It’s Embedded in Federal Standards,” with Greg Sullivan.  “The problem is that the standards themselves are not sufficient to protect the frail and elderly during normal times, let alone in the midst of a pandemic.”

Over 70 elderly veterans have died at the western Massachusetts long-term care facility during the pandemic.

The Springfield Republican launched an investigative series into the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home’s quality of care in 2017, shortly after the publication of concerning injury data and staffing complaints at the facility. Among the chief concerns was that the Soldiers’ Home didn’t have sufficient staff on hand to prevent falls among residents, which was later echoed by union representatives in a 2018 petition to management. Journalist Mike Plaisance went on to document the facility’s high marks during federal and state reviews, which seem jarring given its disproportionate suffering during the tragic Coronavirus outbreak.

In 2001, the U.S. Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services recommended that, for every day each resident spent at a nursing home facility, nursing staff members would spend 4.1 hours servicing the facility. The corresponding standard enforced by the federal government, and cited in a 2017 state audit report, is a minimum of 2.5 nursing hours per resident day.

By March 2020, when staff started calling in sick with COVID-19, management consolidated staffing resources by combining different floors of the facility and having up to nine residents sleep in the dining room, which only accelerated the spread of the virus among residents.

This alleged mismanagement is now the subject of at least four investigations involving both state and federal officials. While Governor Charlie Baker has called in the National Guard to provide assistance to nursing staff at Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, there is still months of work to be done to evaluate who is liable for the deaths of dozens of elderly veterans.

“While it’s easy to retroactively point fingers, the staffing and managerial concerns at Holyoke Soldiers’ Home that predate the Coronavirus outbreak really stand out,” said Pioneer Research Director Greg Sullivan. “That’s why the union’s complaints and the Springfield Republican’s investigative work are so insightful.”

A 2019 report from Suffolk University’s Moakley Center for Public Management cites the state audit report’s findings of excessive overtime payments at the Soldiers’ Home as a potential indicator of staffing issues. However, the 2017 audit report didn’t make that connection, and thus the warnings of the union, staff members, and families of residents went unheeded for years. Unfortunately, it may take a tragedy such as COVID-19 for state and federal standards for nursing home staffing to reflect the decades-long recommendations of healthcare experts.

About the Authors

Gregory Sullivan is Pioneer’s Research Director. Prior to joining Pioneer, Sullivan served two five-year terms as Inspector General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and held several positions within that office previously. Sullivan was a 17-year member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, serving on the committees of Ways and Means, Human Services, and Post-Audit and Oversight. Greg holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard College, a master’s degree in public administration from The Kennedy School of Public Administration at Harvard, and a master’s degree from the Sloan School at M.I.T., with a concentration in finance.

Andrew Mikula is the Lovett & Ruth Peters Economic Opportunity Fellow at Pioneer Institute. Mr. Mikula was previously a Roger Perry Government Transparency Intern at Pioneer Institute and studied economics at Bates College.

About Pioneer
Mission
Pioneer Institute develops and communicates dynamic ideas that advance prosperity and a vibrant civic life in Massachusetts and beyond.

Vision
Success for Pioneer is when the citizens of our state and nation prosper and our society thrives because we enjoy world-class options in education, healthcare, transportation and economic opportunity, and when our government is limited, accountable and transparent.

Values
Pioneer believes that America is at its best when our citizenry is well-educated, committed to liberty, personal responsibility, and free enterprise, and both willing and able to test their beliefs based on facts and the free exchange of ideas.

Get Our COVID-19 News, Tips & Resources!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Related Commentary

Massachusetts’ Holyoke Soldiers’ Home is the hardest-hit facility in the country due to COVID-19. How did that happen? Watch this WCVB-TV segment, featuring Pioneer’s Greg Sullivan, on the facility’s budget, overtime spending, and questions about the care that it provided even before COVID-19.

Recent Posts

U-Arkansas Prof. Patrick Wolf on School Choice, Espinoza, & Students’ Civic Prep

/
U-Arkansas Prof. Patrick Wolf joins The Learning Curve to discuss school choice, the Supreme Court's Espinoza case, & students’ civic preparation.

COVID-19 Roundup from Pioneer: Hope for a vaccine; Open Meeting violations; Holyoke Soldiers Home report; COVID & foster care; Re-opening the beaches; the fate of college towns; COVID’s economic toll on Bay State cities & more!

/
Pioneer staff share their top picks for COVID-19 stories highlighting useful resources, best practices, and questions we should be asking our public and private sector leaders.

Announcing the Pioneer Institute & Nichols College Sports Management Policy College Case Competition

/
In recognition of the cancellation of many student internships…

Pulitzer Winner Diane McWhorter on Civil Rights History & Race in America

/
This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard mark the Juneteenth commemoration of the end of slavery with an episode devoted to Civil Rights history. They are joined by Diane McWhorter, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama: The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution.

Coronavirus Hits Back on Communities Who Slowed Their Spread

/
“This couldn’t come at a worse time,” said rep. Bill Keating…

Combatting COVID-19: Life in the MGH Emergency Room

/
Join host Joe Selvaggi and Pioneer Senior Fellow Josh Archambault as they talk with Dr. David King about the experience of being in emergent care during a pandemic and lockdown. They explore the challenges of coping with a poorly understood virus during a lockdown, all while continuing to serve the sick.

New Pioneer Institute Hotline Allows Public to Report Violations of Open Meeting Law

/
With most public meetings taking place remotely as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pioneer Institute has unveiled an online hotline that allows members of the public to report potential violations of the Commonwealth’s and other states' Open Meeting Law.

Pandemic, Lost Instructional Time Reveal Massachusetts’ Digital Learning Weaknesses

A report released today by Pioneer Institute says that the shutdown of Massachusetts schools due to the COVID-19 virus and the shift to online education have exposed the uneven nature of digital learning in the Commonwealth, and calls for state officials to develop programs to create more consistency.

Pioneer Institute Study Calls for Streamlining State Sales Tax Revenue Collection

At a time when state tax revenues are plummeting, a plan to modernize sales tax collection could get money into state coffers more quickly, according to a new policy brief published by Pioneer Institute.

COVID-19 Roundup from Pioneer: Hubwonk: Elections & COVID-19; Update: Mapping COVID Testing; School Reopening; Protecting Civil Liberties, & more!

/
Pioneer staff share their top picks for COVID-19 stories highlighting useful resources, best practices, and questions we should be asking our public and private sector leaders.

Hubwonk Ep. 9: Elections in Epidemics: Keeping Voters Safe & Elections Fair during COVID-19

/
Join Joe Selvaggi and Pioneer’s Mary Connaughton as they talk with MIT Professor Charles Stewart on how states in general, and Massachusetts in particular, are adapting their voting process to keep elections safe, transparent, and fair during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Update: “Mapping COVID-19” Tool Now Shows Testing Data

/
Now, in addition to maps and tables regarding the number of cases and case rates across the state, “Mapping COVID-19” also includes information regarding the testing efforts in the Commonwealth.