HOLYOKE — Three more veterans at the Soldiers’ Home have died, bringing the total number of residents to die at the facility after testing positive for COVID-19 to at least 36.
Since March 25, 44 veteran residents have died at the Soldiers’ Home, 36 of whom have tested positive for the coronavirus disease. An additional 100 residents have tested positive, as have 79 employees.
That news comes as the state works to transfer more residents out of the facility. State officials said Tuesday that the Department of Veterans Affairs, or VA, has offered potential in-state locations for short-term transfers. The state has also transferred 44 veterans to a satellite unit at Holyoke Medical Center, 15 of whom had positive tests and three of whom have died.
“Secondary testing for veteran residents continues, and as results come in veterans are being moved and cohorted appropriately within the facility, and social distancing continues to be urged among veteran residents and staff,” a spokesperson for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services said in a statement Tuesday.
The state on March 30 suspended Soldiers’ Home Superintendent Bennett Walsh and set up a clinical command structure, with assistance from the National Guard.
State officials said that infection control nurses from the Department of Public Health and Baystate Health are involved with infection control at the facility and that the clinical command structure is “working to bring on new nursing leadership and clinical staff.”
The team is enforcing quarantine zones for COVID-19 positive residents, continuing to distribute and require the use of personal protective equipment, while also restricting visitors and increasing personal hygiene measures and disinfection protocols, according to state officials.
“As necessary facility updates to support infection control and clean and safe environments are identified, veteran residents are being moved to appropriate locations within the facility to enable important deep cleaning, maintenance, and renovation,” the statement said.
The facility’s board of trustees was scheduled to meet Tuesday, but the meeting was canceled. The trustees will now meet on April 16, when an “operational update” will be given, according to the meeting agenda. Kevin Jourdain, the board’s chairman, did not return a phone call for comment on Tuesday.
Dusty Christensen can be reached at dchristensen@gazettenet.com.