Public Meeting Notice  Veterans Home at Chelsea Board of Trustees Meeting — Tuesday, January 27

Meeting Date & Time: January 27, 2026, 1:00PM
Location: Long Term Care Facility Trustees Conference Room 1st floor Room N1106

Attendance

Meeting Agenda

Presentation Details

Executive Director’s Report

Presented by: Christine Baldini

Demographics for November 2025 & December 2025

• VA Annual survey December 1-5, 2025:
  • Long Term Care Facility
    • Identified seven areas that require a plan of correction.
  • Domiciliary
    • Identified three areas that require a plan of correction.
• CMS Five-Star Rating for Nursing Homes:
  • November/ December 2025
    • Overall Quality: 3 stars
    • Health Inspection: 3 stars
    • Quality Measure: 3 stars
    • Staffing: 4 stars
  • December off-cycle 2025
    • Overall Quality: 4 stars
    • Health Inspection: 4 stars
    • Quality Measure: 3 stars
    • Staffing: 4 stars
• HPPD:
  • Total HPPD was 6.03 for November 2025
    • RN 0.81
    • LPN 1.02
    • CNA 4.21
    • Organic staff 93.8%
  • Total HPPD was 6.12 for December 2025
    • RN 0.93
    • LPN 0.8
    • CNA 4.38
    • Organic staff 94.6%

Executive Director’s Report Demographics Q&A:

Question: Is there a big pool of applicants available to draw from for the open positions? 
Answer: For clinical positions (entry level clinical roles), we have a good-sized pool. For the executive level positions, it is harder to fill with industry experience.

Pinnacle Report November 2025 and December 2025

• 98% favorable rating with an average score of 4.84 out of 5
  • Communication continues to be the focus area
  • Looking into alternatives to record satisfaction ratings and real time information that is generated in house.

Pinnacle Report Q&A:

There were no questions on the Executive Director’s report, and it was accepted.

Census and Admissions Report

Presented by: Christine Baldini

Census and Admissions Report Q&A:

Question: In the LTC facility, it seems like the waitlist continues to grow.
Answer: Yes, the waitlist continues to grow.

Question: What is the wait time for the Domiciliary?
Answer: The delay of admissions to the Domiciliary is a direct result of veterans not providing requested information timely.

Department Reports

Medical Director

Presented by: Dr. Jed Barash

• Completed initial offerings of influenza and COVID vaccines to all residents and staff.
• Completed initial offerings of RSV vaccinations to residents.
• Received documentation of vaccination or declination from organic staff by the December 31, 2025, deadline.
• Posted a Nurse Practitioner position in December 2025.
• Plan to post for a Physician II.

Medical Director Q&A

Question: How did we do in terms of flu and COVID in the building?
Answer: We have not had any resident cases of flu identified. We have had two cases in December and none so far inJanuary. No RSF cases. Those who had COVID, had a relatively milder cases as the vaccination continues to provide protection.

The medical team made a decision for mandatory masking. This decision supports mitigation of spread.

The hospitals typically start masking after Christmas; we started after Thanksgiving.

Facilities Department Report

Presented by: Scott Consaul

• We activated Incident Command last Friday prior to the storm, to ensure we were set up for the storm. We met several times over the weekend to coordinate efforts. We will take credit for one of the emergency management activities.

Question: How often do you have to have an exercise for Emergency management? 
Answer: We need to do two per year. We participate in the annual MassMAP event.

• VA Life Safety Survey (12/2-12/6/2024):
  • Received the “ISA” (Inter-Agency Service Agreement) to transfer the funds to the Veterans Home to complete the elevator project.
  • The contractor experienced some delays due to the holidays and is back on schedule. Goal to have the project completed at the end of February 2026.
• Pennrose Updates:
  • Keville and Sullivan buildings, relocation of the DCCU, Gym, Computer Room, etc.:Owner/Architect/Contractor (“OAC”) Meetings have been ongoing and are awaiting a building permit.
  • Incinerator Building work is ongoing. All scheduled steam shutdowns have been completed. TheWilliams Building is now offline. Steel and crane work is nearing completion. This project should be wrapped up shortly.
• Project Updates:
  • SNF Bathroom Doors: Continue to work with DCAMM and Consigli to replace all bathroom doors in theSNF with metal doors, with a “baked on” finish. They are awaiting delivery of three new doors to complete the punch list.
  • SNF Windows: project completed last week.
  • QMH Demolition: Have been actively involved in ongoing OAC meetings, and the abatement work is ahead of schedule. This project is on schedule.

Facilities Department Report Q&A

Question: Did you have a water main break or a disconnect on Crest Ave?
Answer: Yes,the Chelsea DPW, Chelsea Fire Department responded and confirmed we owned the repair.

There were no additional questions.

Ombudsperson Report

Presented by: Marc Silvestri

• Grievances November 2025
  • Total grievances: 13
    • 13 grievances in SNF
    • 0 grievances in DOM
  • All grievances were resolved; no trends identified
• Grievances December 2025
  • Total grievances: 13
    • 11 grievances in SNF
    • 2 grievances in DOM
  • All grievances were resolved; no trends identified

Ombudsperson Report Q&A

Question: In terms of long-term care, could you give us an example of what some of the grievances are?
Answer: There are a wide range of topics such as meals, lost items, etc. There are 13 categories tracked.

Human Resource Department

Presented by:  Brett Zografos

• December Recruitment Totals
  • (3) RN III Evening Supervisor
  • (1) Kitchen Service Worker I
  • (1) Environmental Service Specialist I
• January Recruitment Totals
  • (1) RN II
  • (2) Environmental Service Specialist I
  • (2) Kitchen Service Worker I
  • Deputy Superintendent
• Currently Onboarding
• (1) Nursing Assistant I (conversion from agency to organic staff)
• (1) Registered Nurse II
• (2) Environmental Service Specialist II
• Includes (1) promotion from ESS I
• (1) Security Specialist I
• Registered Nurse V – MDS Coordinator
• Environmental Service Specialist IV

Human Resource Department Q&A

Question: When you promote from within, does that leave an opening that needs to be back filled?
Answer: Yes.

Question: Will any of these positions be used to fill positions on the two neighborhoods? 
Answer: After the rebid is done, we will evaluate our staffing needs.

Question: Are we keeping an eye on veteran applicants? 
Answer: Going forward, we will send openings to the local veteran agencies. If they are qualified, we are hopeful we may see the percentages of veteran workers increase.

Quality Assurance Report

Presented by: Jill West

• Focus Areas and Goals for 2025
  • 2025 DPH Annual Survey Plans of Correction (POC)are ongoing. Three of the POC’s have been completed as of December 2025.
  • 5 Star Rating Focus for Quality Measures.
  • Continue to monitor and audit EMR documentation for compliance and accuracy.
  • Employee clinical education ongoing with incident reports.
  • Preparing for the 2025 VA survey results.
  • February 2026 the Audit for Excellence Program will be rolled out.

Quality Assurance Report Q&A

Question: When the Audit for Excellence Program gets up and running, will the responsibility go up and down in terms of reporting?
Answer: It’s a proactive approach. In practice, it’s most effective for a manager to audit a different floor or area than their own, essentially, a “check the checker” method.

Social Services Report

Presented by: Valerie Brathwaite

• November and December 2025 statistics
  • 5 tours.
  • 7 SNF admissions.
  • 26 grievances, 24 SNF, 2 DOM.
  • 3 veterans met with the VA for service-connected disability claims due to Federal government shut-down.
  • 2 veterans met with Veterans Legal Services.
  • We assisted Residential Services in accepting and distributing holiday donations for the residents.
  • We continue to assist with residents moving into the Keville House to accommodate the renovation project.

Social Services Report Q&A

Question: Do we have someone come on campus to help the veterans help with their tax filings?
Answer: We have in the past; no one came last year; however, there were no requests for assistance. We have resources and  will look to identify if there is a need to have someone come on campus to assist.

Communications Report

Presented by: Janelle Howard

• Newsletter Highlights
  • NBC10 interview: “The last of the Greatest Generation”.
  • Project Soldier: Photography project for Veterans and their families.
  • Christmas card distribution to all residents.
  • Boston Cathedral High School.
  • Malden Catholic High School.
  • City of Everett: Veteran Comfort Drive.
• Onboarding three new volunteers
  • A retired veteran and his teenage daughter
  • A local community member

Financial Report

Presented by: John Couillard

• Overview of Reports
  • Expendable Trust Budget.
  • October 2025 Donation Fund Transactions.
  • October 2025 Legacy Fund Transactions.
  • Trustees Funding Request for Olympics-style events for residents.

There were $48,306.50 in disbursements from the Legacy Fund for December 2025

1. $1,380.00 for barber services.
2. $8,850.00 to Paul Revere Transportation for buses for resident outings.
3. $6,000.00 to Ho Win Palace for resident holiday parties.
4. $2,900.00 to performers for musical entertainment.
5. $1,938.25 to Resounding Joy for resident music therapy services.
6. $25,000.00 transferred to Donation fund for resident recreation.

Other Business

Presented by: Thomas Lyons

A special Trustees Funding Request was submitted for approximately $1,621 to purchase equipment for Olympic-style events, allowing residents to participate during the first two weeks of February.

Mr. Lyons asked for a motion to accept the financial report as presented by the CFO. 
Accepted by Janet, Dawn, Ira then Thomas. 

Mr. Lyons asked for a motion to accept the special request for the Olympic event. 
Accepted by Ira, Dawn, and Thomas.

Other Business Q&A

Question: Do we anticipate the equipment will be able to be reused? 
Answer: Yes.

We will meet next on February 24, 2026.

Adjournment:

Conducted by: Thomas Lyons

• Mr. Lyons accepted a motion to adjourn.
• Ms. Hale seconded.
• The motion was accepted by all members.