⁍ A grand jury on Thursday indicted superintendent Bennett Walsh and David Clinton, the former medical director of the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke.

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⁍ The charges stem from the two individuals’ roles in decision-making at the home that led to the consolidation of two dementia units into one.

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⁍ The move placed symptomatic residents, including some who had tested positive for the coronavirus, and asymptomatic residents in close proximity.

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– “We believe this is the first criminal case in the country brought against those involved in nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said Friday, referring to the deadly virus that killed at least 76 residents of a veterans’ home in Holyoke, Mass., per Reuters. Bennett Walsh, the superintendent of the Soldiers’ Home, and David Clinton, the home’s former medical director, have been indicted on charges of criminal neglect related to their work at the facility, Reuters reports. “We allege that the actions of these defendants during the COVID-19 outbreak at the facility put veterans at higher risk of infection and death and warrant criminal charges,” Healey said in a statement. She said the charges stem from the two individuals’ roles in decision-making at the home that led to the consolidation of two dementia units into one. The move placed symptomatic residents, including some who had tested positive for the coronavirus, and asymptomatic residents in close proximity, “increasing the exposure of asymptomatic veterans to the virus,” officials said. “We believe this is the first criminal case in the country brought against those involved in nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Healey said.