Chelsea Soldiers' Home superintendent fired after I-Team questions leadership, care of veterans
CHELSEA - Chelsea Soldiers' Home superintendent Eric Johnson has been fired, days after the WBZ-TV I-Team raised questions about his leadership and the care of veterans.
Chief Investigative Reporter Cheryl Fiandaca tracked Johnson down last week, but he refused to talk about the letter from the Inspector General that blasted the "terrible" conditions at the home.
In an email to employees Thursday, the secretary of veterans services told staff Johnson no longer works at the soldiers' home.
Johnson was put out on leave last year, amid allegations of sexual harassment and bullying. He was back on the job months later. The Inspector General's letter raised new concerns about his honesty and claims by employees of retaliation.
In a letter sent to MaryLou Sudders, the Health and Human Services Secretary, the I.G. slammed the Baker administration for failing to take action to protect veterans at the Chelsea Home, saying they knew about the problems and did nothing about it.
The letter details dozens of reports from 2022 including one from the state's own inspectors that found, "rooms in the Domiciliary were in 'terrible' condition, with feces, dead rodents, dirt and bugs present. These conditions point to a catastrophic failure of the Home's leadership."
Another report said veterans at the Home had been found lying "soaked in urine and sitting in feces."
Eric Sheehan ran the Home in 2021 and was later promoted to Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs. The I-Team first talked to Sheehan last summer when the former Marine said he was fired after repeatedly raising questions about the care and management in Chelsea and Holyoke.
Sheehan told the I-Team he has thousands of documents and emails to prove it, calling what the IG found "disgusting. It truly is. They should be bringing in a team of experts, get it right, they deserve better, staff and the veterans there deserve better." As for what he thought should happen with Eric Johnson, Sheehan said "fired."
Sheehan said the IG's letter essentially confirms all of his concerns.
And he wasn't the only person in leadership to come forward, The I-Team also talked to Beth Scheffler, another whistleblower who oversaw the nursing staff in the Chelsea home in 2021. She too was fired after sounding the alarm on record keeping and lack of infection control.
Beth told the I-Team that the state's new administration needs "to appoint people who will follow the rules and the policies and put the veterans first and the staff."
Both Sheehan and Scheffler have filed whistleblower lawsuits.
The state took action immediately to replace Johnson with an interim superintendent.
A spokesperson for Governor Maura Healey said, "Governor Healey and her administration remain committed to protecting the health, safety and wellbeing of our veterans."