An eight-story veterans home with 234 beds has opened on Cherry Hill in Holyoke, Massachusetts, replacing the Soldiers' Home where at least 76 elderly veterans died during a 2020 COVID-19 outbreak that was one of the deadliest at a long-term care facility. The new building, standing beside the old one, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Oct. 29, and the first residents were scheduled to begin moving in on Nov. 10, with additional move-ins to follow VA inspections.
The new facility's current project budget is $465 million, compared with an original estimate of $485 million; a MassLive report from May cited $405 million. Whatever the final figure, the building represents years of pressure from veterans, advocates, and families of those who died, who pushed for a facility with enhanced staffing, rigorous infection control, and spacious living quarters.
A Building Born From Tragedy
The outbreak at the old Soldiers' Home unfolded as veterans with and without COVID symptoms were forced to share locked rooms while the disease spread through the building. State investigations later examined overcrowding and understaffing at the home. Governor Maura Healey prosecuted the former superintendent and medical director of the Soldiers' Home during her tenure as attorney general, according to the Globe's reporting.
What Residents Will Find Inside
According to the Globe, the new facility includes 212 single rooms and 11 double rooms, with private bathrooms; the building offers views stretching as far as Hartford.
As of late May, the home already had 1.36 RNs per patient day, versus a national average of 0.59 nurses, according to the MassLive report, which also noted that falls at the facility fell 27.4% from 2021 to 2026 even as incident reporting climbed 141%.
Timeline For the Full Move
A MassLive account from May described the relocation as beginning in September, with an expected conclusion in early December 2026. The Daily Hampshire Gazette reported that the old building will eventually be demolished to make way for parking.
Healey said she hoped people would take comfort from the new facility and described the work as inspired by tragedy. For a community that watched the old Soldiers' Home become a symbol of institutional failure, the new building on Cherry Hill now stands as evidence that the state's long-delayed promise to its veterans is finally being kept.
