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Concord, N.H. -- The New Hampshire Veterans Home Board of Managers is conducting an internal review following the COVID outbreak at the New Hampshire Veterans Home that killed 37 veterans, according to a new report. The Union Leader’s Kevin Landrigan reported that according to a letter sent by New Hampshire Veterans Home Board of Managers Chairman Paul J. Lloyd to all employees dated February 26, the board had “started a review of the past few months,” to review “policies, procedures and staffing levels.” The letter to Veterans Home employees was sent three weeks before Governor Sununu released his sham Veterans Home “report” in March, which did not assess what could have prevented or mitigated the outbreak at the Veterans Home. Rather, it simply provided the results of an examination of the Veterans Home's compliance with COVID protocols on one day -- March 12, 2021 -- four months after the first reported death and seven weeks after the outbreak ended. Nowhere in Sununu’s sham “report” did it mention concerns about testing lags at the start of the outbreak, a lack of PPE, staffing shortages, or residents having to wait days for the COVID vaccine. It also did not address Sununu’s summer 2020 veto of HB 1246, a bill that would have provided $25 million for long-term care facilities like the Veterans Home to prepare for COVID outbreaks. In fact, the report made only passing mention of the deadly outbreak at all. “After Governor Sununu’s sham ‘report’ failed to investigate what could have prevented or mitigated the COVID outbreak at the Veterans Home, it’s encouraging that there is another review happening so we can ensure that we protect the health and safety of our veterans and nursing home staff,” said New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley. “I hope that the Board of Managers at the Veterans Home makes this review public so that the veterans and their families can finally get the answers they deserve, which Governor Sununu failed to do."
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