Spotlight on Urena in Soldiers’ Home scandal
Disabled vets group says Baker secretary should be fired
By 
THE SCANDAL AT THE Holyoke Soldiers’ Home is putting a spotlight on Secretary of Veterans’ Services Francisco Urena, with one veteran’s organization calling for his resignation – a development that is bringing the scandal closer to Gov. Charlie Baker.
Thursday morning, Daniel Stack, department adjutant for the Massachusetts chapter of Disabled American Veterans, told CommonWealth that Urena should be fired. “He should be relieved of command at this point in time,” Stack said.
As of Wednesday, 76 veterans had died who tested positive for COVID-19 at the state-run soldiers’ home and another 75 were infected. Four investigations are ongoing.
Baker and Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders have said they found out about the outbreak Sunday evening, March 29, and by Monday had put Superintendent Bennett Walsh on leave and brought in a team of medical experts and the National Guard to take over operations.
But they do add complexity to the question of who knew what when – and why Baker and Sudders didn’t know about the outbreak earlier. The documents show Walsh kept Urena (Baker’s cabinet secretary) and Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary Dan Tsai (Sudders’ number two) updated about the outbreak from March 22, the day after the first case was confirmed, through the day the first death was confirmed, March 27. In fact, Walsh asked state officials for help.
Urena, a US Marine Corps veteran who was previously in charge of veterans’ services for Boston and Lawrence, has already come under scrutiny.
WBUR reported earlier this month that the Legislature in 2016 created a new position to provide oversight of the Holyoke and Chelsea Soldiers’ Homes by someone with experience in health care management – which Urena does not have – and lawmakers were questioning why that position was never filled.
The Massachusetts chapter of Disabled American Veterans previously called for Urena to be put on leave during the investigations, but Stack said the new revelations confirm that Urena showed a lack of leadership. “Secretary Urena on day one should have contacted the governor directly to let him know what was happening so the governor could have taken appropriate action as needed, including bringing in the National Guard,” Stack said.
Baker refused to comment on the documents Wednesday, saying he was waiting for the conclusion of an investigation he commissioned by attorney Mark Perlstein, which he said should be completed soon. “There’s a lot of back and forth, which is not surprising given the significance of what happened there, but I’m waiting for Mark’s report,” Baker said.
Rep. Aaron Vega, a Holyoke Democrat, told CommonWealth he was concerned about the administration’s approach to the Soldiers’ Home before the pandemic. For years, Vega said, Soldiers’ Home leaders would brief legislators about budget and staffing problems. Under Urena and Walsh, Vega said, lawmakers were simply told the budget was sufficient. Vega worried about an increased reliance on temporary staff, and lack of movement on implementing electronic medical records. “It just seems like there’s been a lack of communication across the board, it’s hard to say who communicated with who,” Vega said.