Holyoke Soldiers’ Home ex-leaders have charges reinstated by state’s highest court

By Web staff

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    HOLYOKE, Massachusetts (WBZ) — The highest court in Massachusetts reinstated criminal charges against the former managers of the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home for their alleged roles in the deadly COVID outbreak there.

Bennett Walsh, who was the home’s superintendent, and David Clinton, the former medical director, were both charged with elder neglect and permitting bodily injury.

A court later tossed out those charges.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled Thursday that the attorney general’s office should have the chance to present its case against the two men.

Early in the pandemic, 76 people at the facility died from COVID-19.

Then-Attorney General Maura Healey, who is now governor, said at the time that charges stemmed from the men’s March 2020 decision to combine two dementia units, placing residents who were positive for the coronavirus into a space with those without symptoms.

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