ELDERLY

A new report by the Massachusetts auditor says the state needs to do a better job of tracking claims of elder abuse.

Saturday night’s scheduled performance at the Academy of Music in Northampton was already a rescheduled event, postponed since 2020, said Bob Cilman, Young@Heart’s manager and conductor.

The Massachusetts Senate approved a suite of management and oversight reforms to address two state-run veterans' homes where they say more than 100 residents died amid outbreaks of the highly infectious virus.

Springside Rehabilitation and Skilled Care Center in Pittsfield saw a recent COVID-19 outbreak amid neglect allegations from families of residents. Now the nursing home is getting more help from Massachusetts health officials, as Heather Bellow of The Berkshire Eagle tells us.

The bill is said to draw "a lot of influence" from a reform package that was compiled after a legislative investigation into a fatal COVID-19 outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers' Home in spring 2020.

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont is ordering nursing home workers and contractors who have significant contact with residents to get a vaccine booster shot by Feb. 11, noting the state's increasing COVID-19 infection rate among staff.

The move by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey seeks to reverse the dismissal of indictments against former Superintendent Bennett Walsh of Springfield and Dr. David Clinton of South Hadley, the home's former medical director.

The attorneys for the former Holyoke Soldiers' Home superintendent and medical director said they are pleased a judge has dismissed criminal neglect…

Connecticut watches as neighboring states pass laws setting requirements for how much nursing homes must spend on resident care and limiting what they can spend on other expenses, such as administrative costs and salaries.

Workers at nursing homes, residential care homes, assisted living facilities and other long-term care facilities will have to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Sept. 7 or their workplaces will face a $20,000 penalty per day, Gov. Ned Lamont announced late Friday.