Local News

Former superintendent of veterans home where nearly 80 died of COVID likely to change not guilty plea

Bennett Walsh faces 10 criminal charges after he placed veterans at Holyoke Soldiers Home who tested positive for COVID in the same area as those who did not exhibit symptoms.

Bennett Walsh, former superintendent of Holyoke Soldiers' Home, listens to arguments during a hearing to dismiss charges of criminal neglect that arose from the COVID-19 breakout at the facility against him and former medical director Dr. David Clinton, in Hampden Superior Court, Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021, in Springfield, Mass. Don Treeger

By Emily Spatz

March 25, 2024

The former superintendent of a Holyoke veterans home where nearly 80 people died from COVID-19 is scheduled to change his plea Tuesday on several criminal charges related to the outbreak, according to local reports.

Bennett Walsh, the former superintendent of Holyoke Soldiers Home, is scheduled for a change of plea hearing on Tuesday, WCVB reported.

The hearing is scheduled at Hampshire Superior Court and will address five charges of neglect, Western Mass News reported.

Walsh and former medical director of the home David Clinton pleaded not guilty to charges related to the deadly outbreak in November 2020.

The two were charged in September 2020 with 10 counts each, including abuse, neglect or mistreatment of an elderly or disabled person.

Walsh and Clinton were charged after combining two dementia units in the home, packing residents who were positive for the coronavirus into the same space as those who showed no symptoms. The resulting outbreak is considered one of the worst in a long-term care facility in the nation.

In April 2023, the state’s highest court overruled a lower court judge’s decision that there was insufficient evidence in the case, reinstating the charges against Walsh and Clinton.