BOSTON (WHDH) - The Holyoke Soldiers’ Home Coalition plans to gather at the State House Tuesday to call for a new building at the facility.
The protest is scheduled to happen ahead of a meeting involving the Veterans and Federal Affairs Committee to discuss reform at the home following dozens of veterans’ deaths linked to the coronavirus.
The coalition says it needs 130 new private rooms with bathrooms, adding that those accommodations are crucial to keeping residents safe if there’s another virus outbreak.
John Hurley, of the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home Coalition, says the federal government is willing to pay for the new building but that the state is stalling.
“The federal government has approved their money, 65 percent of whatever the cost will be, and the state just hasn’t put up the money,” he said, “so there’s some reluctance about feeling good about our own state, and how our state is treating our veterans.”
The coalition is also calling for veterans and their family members to have a place on the Board of Directors and for the home to open an adult daycare center for veterans who don’t live there get temporary care.
The committee’s virtual hearing on Gov. Charles Baker’s bill to reform oversight of the home is slated to begin at 1 p.m.
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