Alan Twofoot, served in the Army for 28 years and Bedford VA hospital died of COVID-19

Rolling memorial service held for Merrimack veteran, 51, who died from complications of COVID-19

WMUR News
Siobhan Lopez
May 16, 2020

Tiffany Twofoot, who tested negative for COVID-19, said it's not clear how her husband contracted the virus, but that he continued to work at the VA in Bedford, Massachusetts, and was doing all of the grocery shopping for the family.

Emergency vehicles, including ones from the New Hampshire National Guard, led dozens of mourners past Alan Twofoot’s Merrimack home on Saturday. Twofoot, a 51-year-old Army veteran, died Tuesday from complications of COVID-19.

“Extremely overwhelming. I never imagined that there were so many people out there who loved and respected him that way,” said his wife, Tiffany.

Twofoot’s family want people to know this virus needs to be taken seriously.

“When he got sick with this, it brought him to his knees. It turned him into somebody he never would've wanted to be,” said Tiffany Twofoot.

Alan Twofoot, who served in the Army for 28 years, also leaves behind three children and two grandchildren. Nobody was allowed to be by his side when he died, adding to the heartbreak.

Alan Twofoot, who served in the Army for 28 years, also leaves behind three children and two grandchildren. Nobody was allowed to be by his side when he died, adding to the heartbreak.
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VA Hospice nurse accused of taking morphine from dying veterans leaving them suffering in pain

Former nurse charged for allegedly stealing morphine from dying veterans

ABC News
By ELLA TORRES
Sep 18, 2019

In one case, a veteran experienced increased difficulties breathing and increased suffering in his final days, federal prosecutors said, citing its investigation into the matter.

A former hospice nurse has been accused of ingesting morphine that was meant for dying veterans and, in turn, causing increased suffering for some of the patients in their last days, officials said Wednesday.

Kathleen Noftle, 55, was arrested and charged for offenses she allegedly committed while working at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center campus in Bedford, Massachusetts, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in the state.

Noftle admitted to authorities that she mixed water from the sink with a portion of the liquid morphine to dilute the drug three times in January 2017, then gave the watered-down version to veterans and ingested the remaining amount for herself, according to the attorney’s office.

The investigation also revealed that before Noftle worked at the VA center in Bedford, she resigned from her position as a nurse at a different hospital because she did not follow protocol when throwing out narcotics on 60 occasions.
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Vietnam Veteran Died Because Aide Played Video Game

A nurse’s aide plays video games while a veteran dies at Bedford VA hospital

Boston Globe
By Andrea Estes GLOBE STAFF
OCTOBER 17, 2017

Bill Nutter was very sick. Not only had he just lost his second leg to diabetes, but he also suffered from a condition that could cause his heart to stop beating without warning.

JOHN TLUMACKI/GLOBE STAFF
Brigitte Darton’s father, William Nutter, a Vietnam War veteran, died at the Bedford VA hospital despite the facility’s staff knowing that he needed to be checked on frequently

But his daughter, Brigitte Darton, felt reassured because her mother had found a bed for the ailing Vietnam veteran and retired police detective at the Bedford VA Medical Center. He would be under the watchful eyes of the staff at a hospital ranked by the Veterans Administration as one of its best nationwide.

So Darton went on a long-planned family vacation in July 2016, only to get a shocking call from her mother the next day. “Your father passed away,” Carol Nutter said. “He didn’t wake up.”

A doctor eventually told Carol Nutter that a staff member on the night shift had failed to check on him hourly, as she should have.
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Man killed by plow at Bedford VA hospital identified

Man killed by plow at Bedford VA hospital identified
Lowell Sun
By Robert Mills
UPDATED: 02/13/2017

BEDFORD -- A 60-year-old man was killed in a parking lot at the Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital in Bedford Sunday night when he was struck by a Veterans Administration plow truck as it was backing up.

On Monday, the Middlesex District Attorney's office identified the victim as Gerald Flynn, a resident of 100 Pride Way on the VA hospital's property.

Bedford police Chief Robert Bongiorno and fire Chief David Grunes said in a press release that emergency crews were called to a parking lot on the hospital grounds for a report that a man was in cardiac arrest after being struck by a plow truck about 6 p.m.
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Bedford VA Chaplain investigated by the Archdiocese for the Military Services

UPDATE
VA chaplain suspended for alleged inappropriate talks with minors

Bedford VA Medical Center has had some of the best doctors working on PTSD in the country. I am not sure what the Chaplain is accused of but will post an update as soon as it is available.

Chaplain at VA hospital in Bedford is suspended
11/23/2012
By Brian Ballou and Martin Finucane
Boston Globe Staff

A chaplain at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Bedford who has been living at a church rectory in Stow is under investigation for “personal conduct matters,” the Archdiocese of Boston said today.

The Rev. Luke Odor is being investigated by the Archdiocese for the Military Services, which supervises him, the Boston archdiocese said in a statement.

Odor has been suspended by the military archdiocese and the Boston archdiocese said it had followed suit, taking “similar action.”
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Her bronze is as good as gold at Bedford VA

Her bronze is as good as gold at Bedford VA
Sentinel and Enterprise
By Katie Lannan

BEDFORD -- With neuromuscular disease limiting the use of his hands, Army veteran Ed Ackerson couldn't grip Natalie Dell's Olympic bronze medal when she passed it around to patients at the Edith Nourse Rogers Veterans Administration Hospital on Thursday.

So Dell, a rower on the U.S. women's quadruple sculls team, took the medal from around her neck and placed it around Ackerson's.

"You're going to insist on taking this back now, aren't you?" said Ackerson, 62, looking down the medal.

"I'll fight you for it, sir," Dell joked.

A mental-health researcher at the hospital, Dell, a Cambridge resident, was welcomed back to her workplace Thursday after two years telecommuting from New Jersey while training for the Olympics.

Her return as an Olympic medalist is a point of pride for the VA, said acting hospital Director Christine Croteau.

"We have world-class health care, world-class research and now, a world-class athlete," Croteau said.
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New Program Teaches Valuable Life-Skills To Veterans

Jun 24, 2009 7:06 pm US/Eastern
Program Helps Homeless Vets Get Life Back On Track
New Program Teaches Valuable Life-Skills To Veterans
BEDFORD (WBZ) ―


Some veterans, who have been homeless, are getting a fresh start on life with some help.

WBZ reporter Dawn Hasbrouck details an innovative new program that will give homeless veterans a new apartment and the skills needed to succeed in life.

"We're going to take clients who are living in our shelter, but who may lack the skills to live independently. And we're going to take them as a group of four and move them into our brand new model apartment," Dr. Dennis Upper said.

People at the New England Center for Homeless Veterans say they have heard and seen the success stories and hope to add to the numbers.

"Every aspect of my life was in ruins," Steven Holland said.

Holland, a Persian Gulf War veteran, left Saudi Arabia in 1995 with problems.

"I was dealing with a lot of stress. I had child support to pay. I had to find another home and I started to drink real heavily," Holland said.
go here for more
http://wbztv.com/local/homeless.veterans.program.2.1058472.html

U.S. D-Day Memorial struggles to stay afloat

U.S. D-Day Memorial struggles to stay afloat

By Sue Lindsey - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Jun 2, 2009 17:28:32 EDT

BEDFORD, Va. — On the eve of the 65th anniversary of D-Day, the foundation that runs the National D-Day Memorial is on the brink of financial ruin.

Donations are down in the poor economy. The primary base of support — World War II veterans — is dying off. And the privately funded memorial is struggling to draw visitors because it is hundreds of miles from a major city.

The memorial opened eight years ago at a ceremony attended by President George W. Bush. It was built in Bedford because the community suffered among the highest per-capita losses in the United States on D-Day.

Facing the prospect of cutting staff and hours, the memorial’s president believes its only hope for long-term survival is to be taken over by the National Park Service or by a college or university.

So far, he has found no takers.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/06/ap_d_day_memorial_060209/