HOLYOKE, MA – APRIL 29: An American flag flies at half-mast outside the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home on April 29, 2020 in Holyoke, Massachusetts. In one of the deadliest known COVID-19 outbreaks at a long-term care center in the U.S., more than 70 residents have reportedly died at the veteran living facility as dozens more residents and employees have tested positive for the virus. (Photo by Matthew Cavanaugh/Getty Images)
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker on Wednesday filed a $56 million bill to fund the class action settlement stemming from the COVID-19 deaths of veterans at the Holyoke Soldiers' Home in 2020.
"While this financial settlement cannot make up for the losses suffered at the Holyoke Soldiers' Home in the earliest days of the pandemic, our Administration hopes that this resolution brings some measure of closure to the affected veterans and families," the governor wrote in a letter to the Legislature.
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The fiscal 2022 supplemental budget covers "veterans and the estates of veterans who lived at the Holyoke Soldiers' Home at any time between March 1, 2020 and June 23, 2020 and who became ill or died from COVID during that period."
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A federal judge approved the settlement on June 6, and Baker said in his letter that former U.S. Attorney Donald Stern will serve as the settlement claims administrator and "make awards to participating eligible claimants based on his review of each claimant's individual circumstances."
The Legislature is still mulling governance reforms once deemed urgent to improve operations at the home
