State Sen. John Velis, Holyoke’s senator. and chairperson of several committees including the Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs, is pushing impatiently for the promise made to veterans be made real.

The city’s Soldiers Home became a focal point of fatal incompetence that led to the deaths of 84 veterans during the pandemic. More recently, the Chelsea Soldiers Home has veterans living in “unacceptable” conditions, said the commonwealth’s Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro.

Sen. Velis expressed outrage that veterans are mistreated by politicized and bureaucratic positions. He promises to force the commonwealth to live up to its charge. According to a report from NBC-Boston: “In August of 2022, a senior member of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services wrote that at least a dozen rooms were in “terrible” condition, with “feces, dead rodents, dirt and bugs present,” which Shapiro said points to a “catastrophic failure” of the home’s leadership.”

Shapiro concluded in his letter to outgoing Secretary of Health and Human Services, Marylou Sudders: “During this time of transition, you must provide a complete, transparent briefing to your successor on these issues. This Office intends to continue to monitor the situation at the Home, to share these concerns with your successor and to make further recommendations as necessary as part of our role in the oversight of Commonwealth resources, all of which fall directly within our statutory mandate and responsibilities.”

More from the NBC-Boston story here: https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/inspector-general-details-unacceptable-living-conditions-at-chelsea-soldiers-home/2936995/

Gov. Maura Healey is set to appoint a new secretary soon.