CONCORD – Democrats called the report Gov. Chris Sununu released late Thursday on the COVID-19 outbreak at the Veterans’ Home in Tilton a “sham” that failed to investigate what led to the deaths of 37 veterans.

“The sham report that Chris Sununu released, in lieu of an actual investigation, is a disgrace to our veterans, to their families, and to the staff at the New Hampshire Veterans Home who deserve answers on the outbreak that took the lives of 37 veterans,” said New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley.

“It’s absolutely shameful that Sununu has refused to actually investigate the cause of the outbreak and protect the health and safety of our veterans and nursing home staff — and instead is just trying to protect his political future and cover up his failure to mitigate the outbreak. Our veterans and their families deserve so much better from Chris Sununu.” 

The outbreak also resulted in 93 residents – 37 percent of the 250 residents at the facility – and 102 staff contracting the virus, according to a news release issued by the New Hampshire Democratic Party on Friday.

 A copy of the Infection Control Assessment and Response (ICAR) Report released by Sununu can be found here. A copy of the COVID-19 Infection Control Assessment Response (ICAR) Summary can be found here. A copy of a letter from Andria Scacheri, HAI Prevention Specialist, to the New Hampshire Veterans Home can be found here.

Brandon Pratt, Sununu’s deputy communications director, sent an email saying the following could be attributed to him:

“The review conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services followed all CDC protocols and was conducted utilizing the CDC Nursing Home COVID-19 Infection Control Assessment and Response Tool Facilitator Guide. The review conducted by experts at the Department of Human Services was comprehensive and thoroughly examined all practices and protocols from the top down.

“This report affirms that, while no nursing home across the country was immune from COVID-19, the staff at the Veterans Home followed appropriate practices and procedures and should be commended for their work,” Pratt said.

The report only provides the results of an examination of the Veterans Home’s compliance with COVID protocols on one day — March 12, 2021 — five months after the first reported death and seven weeks after the outbreak ended, the NHDP release said.

The Democrats contrasted Sununu’s eight-page report with Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker’s release of a 174-page report from an independent investigation into what caused a COVID outbreak at Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke, Mass.