Two-plus years after the horrific news that dozens of veterans were neglected and died of COVID-19 at the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke, the drama woefully continues.
On the same day this month that Gov. Charlie Baker signed a much-anticipated bill overhauling the governance structure of the Holyoke and Chelsea veterans’ homes, a draw-dropping lawsuit from an Easthampton nurse was made public about the Holyoke home that is deeply disturbing.
Easthampton’s Kathleen Newman, a well-respected and very experienced registered nurse of 38 years, has filed a whistleblower lawsuit alleging that a dementia patient was barricaded in her room and sedated to comply with COVID restrictions. She also says the Holyoke home misrepresented COVID death counts.
It continues the narrative that things are still not well in Holyoke.
In December last year, Newman says she witnessed staff block a veteran in a room because the veteran wasn’t cognitively able to comply with directives to isolate in her room. According to Newman, staff gave the veteran inappropriately high doses of a sedative and then propped a chair in her doorway to prevent the veteran from leaving her room.
“The veteran not only remained in her room, but was unable to function and did not eat or drink for about 48 hours, putting her at grave risk for physical harm,” the lawsuit says.
Newman claims she brought the matter to the attention of her boss who rebuffed the concerns and said the incident was “not reportable.” That didn’t work for Newman who nonetheless reported the incident to the state Department of Public Health. She then claims she was fired.
The court document, filed in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston, reads like a script from a daytime soap opera. There are incidents of emotional and moral conflicts and strong language and verbal tirades. It rivals any high-intensity prime-time medical series.
Newman, a former director of clinical education at the home, was hired during the pandemic as part of a new team of leaders to fix many of the issues identified in numerous inquiries and investigations. But she quickly discovered a culture of fear and retribution at the home that she could not crack. And, ultimately, as has happened to too many others in state government, when you speak up, you’re either terminated or forced to resign or told you are “not a good fit.”
Others choose to leave when they accept the fact that you will either become part of the problem from the inside or you must exit to effect change from the outside.
Newman isn’t talking to the press, and neither is the state about her lawsuit. When things are in litigation, that’s the way it is. But I know Kathleen, and she is about as forthright and honest person as you will ever meet. Her moral compass always points true north.
In my testimony before a state legislative investigation committee delving into the hows and whys of so many deaths at both the Holyoke and Chelsea homes during the pandemic, I emphasized that there was a toxic culture in state government that was an underlying factor in setting the stage for what happened. It’s a culture, I said, that the state must fix.
For decades now, whether it’s been crises at the Department of Children and Families, at the MBTA, or in the ranks of the State Police, how many times have we’ve seen politicians point fingers and look for scapegoats or for state employees to be tight-lipped?
Employees earning retirement pensions and good salaries too often hide from coming forth and doing the right thing. That must stop.
Kathleen Newman and other employees who have reported abuse and wrongdoing are the rare exceptions. They are true profiles in courage. They are so special in our human galaxy, I call them “supernovas” — bright stars who are change agents in an otherwise dark universe of otherwise obfuscation, lack of transparency and alternative facts.
The best and highest performing health care systems in the world value such supernovas in building a culture of safety and employee engagement. In their teammates, they demand the highest integrity. In every department, they embrace a blame-free environment. In their daily practices, they encourage everyone, regardless of service line, to report mistakes, misconduct, and malpractice without fear of reprimand or retribution.
You can build a new facility as the state has pledged to do with a new $400 million Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke and you can pass laws to require better oversight, but until the state shakes up its workplace culture, you won’t truly see the transformation needed for better care.
The first order of business is for the state to create exceptional teams and find leaders who will build mutual trust, integrity, open communication and camaraderie. If the state doesn’t invest in staff, the sensationalism will continue at the Soldiers’ Home.
It’s time to change the channel in Holyoke. Our veterans don’t want or deserve melodrama. They don’t want theater. They just want to be cared for with competence, love, and compassion by kind and good people who respect one another.
John Paradis, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, lives in Florence and writes a monthly column for the Gazette. He can be reached at columnists@gazettenet.com.