Mass. Nursing Home Getting Coronavirus Victims

Sunday, March 29, 2020
Mass. Nursing Home to Get Coronavirus Patients

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Owners and employees of a nursing home chain with a unique arrangement to care for Massachusetts victims of the coronavirus pandemic donated over $20,000 to the campaigns of Massachusetts Gov. Charles Baker and Lieutenant Gov. Karyn Polito.
Under an agreement disclosed Friday coronavirus patients being released from Worcester area hospitals will be cared for at the 164-bed Beaumont Nursing and Rehabilitation Center also in Worcester.
Beaumont disclosed Friday that the 147 patients now at the Worcester facility are being transferred to other Beaumont and Salmon nursing homes, a move which has prompted protests from relatives of some of those patients who are about to be moved.
Campaign finance reports show Matthew Salmon, Beaumont's chief executive officer, and other members of the Salmon family, have been regular contributors to Baker's and Polito's campaign committees.
The Salmon family has been generous contributors to other state officials including Sen. Michael Moore, a Millbury Democrat, and House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, Democrat of Winthrop.
A spokeswoman for Beaumont and Salmon referred all questions to Beaumont's facebook page which includes a video from Matthew Salmon announcing the impending transfers.
"At this time, we are directing all inquiries to our Facebook page," Maggie Bidwell wrote in an email response to questions.
According to that announcement the 147 current patients are being transferred to other Beaumont facilities or other nursing homes with vacancies in the Worcester area.
Unanswered were questions including how much will be paid for each coronavirus patient and who will pay.
Questions directed to Baker's office also went unanswered.
In the video presentation Salmon said deciding to go forward with the agreement was "a very, very difficult decision" that he anguished over. He said the move was necessary to protect the current residents who would be put at risk when coronavirus patients were admitted.
He said all of the current patients would be moved by Wednesday. He also said the arrangement carried substantial financial risk.
Relatives of those current residents protested the sudden transfers and expressed concern that the disruption could have tragic results.