Statement of State Senator Walter F. Timilty on the creation of Joint Special Oversight Committee
I am humbled to have been appointed the Co-Chair of the Joint Special Oversight Committee created to further examine the actions that led to the deaths of 76 veterans at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home from Covid-19. This new Committee will conduct public hearings, develop recommendations and propose legislation where necessary.
I was both shocked and saddened at the information from the Independent Investigative Report on the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home which shed light on events that unfolded prior to and during the Covid-19 outbreak.
This home is a special place, a place where our heroic veterans should have received the proper care they so deserved.
As Co-Chair of the Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs, I feel it is imperative we ensure that those responsible for the actions and inactions that lead to both the catastrophic conditions and tragic deaths be held accountable.
With this new oversight committee, we will make steps toward ensuring that a tragedy like this never happens again.