Special Joint Oversight Committee on the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke COVID-19 Outbreak Public Hearing

The Special Joint Oversight Committee on the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke COVID-19 Outbreak is holding two public hearings on the Holyoke Soldiers Home COVID-19 Outbreak from a family and healthcare proxy lens.

The Committee is encouraging as many family members as possible to testify either in person, remotely, or to provide written testimony, as this will be their first opportunity to do so in a public forum. First priority will be accorded to family members of both our heroic Veterans that have succumbed to COVID-19 and to those of our surviving residents at the Holyoke Soldiers Home. Given COVID-19 protocols and procedures, the Committee may need to extend the hearings where they are soliciting testimony from family members beyond this date. The Committee will make every accommodation possible to provide the opportunity for all family members and healthcare proxies to testify.

Individuals looking to testify in person at the hearing on Tuesday, October 20 beginning at 11:00 a.m. must complete & submit this Google Form. The Google Form will remain open until 4:00 p.m. on Friday, October 16. (To submit via Google Form, you have to be logged in to a Google account.)

If you cannot sign up via Google Form, please email Jessica Avery at jessica.avery@mahouse.gov by 11:00 a.m. on Friday, October 16 and be sure sure to include “Special Joint Oversight Committee on the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke COVID-19 Outbreak Testimony Sign Up” in the subject line. Please also include your name, organization, phone number, and email that you will use to sign into the hearing. The Committee will follow up with you about how to share testimony with the committee.

If you are not able to attend the in-person hearing on Tuesday, or feel more comfortable participating online, a virtual hearing will take place on Thursday, October 22 beginning at 12:00 p.m. via Microsoft Teams. More information is here.

You are also invited to send your testimony either as an attached PDF or in the body of an email to Jessica Avery, Research Director, at jessica.avery@mahouse.gov or Hannah Buntich, Chair Timilty’s Chief of Staff, at hannah.buntich@masenate.gov no later than 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 22, 2020. Please make sure to include “Special Joint Oversight Committee on the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke COVID-19 Outbreak Testimony” in the subject line and include your name, address, organization (if applicable), and phone number.