Massachusetts assisted living commission eyes extended work after Fall River fire as Healey pledges $1.2 million for Fall River to hire more responders

BY COLIN A. YOUNG

[Coverage Developing] The special state commission that has been studying assisted living facilities with an emphasis on resident health and safety with an Aug. 1 deadline will be “continuing to work over the coming weeks” to incorporate lessons learned from the fatal Fall River fire on July 13, Gov. Maura Healey said Tuesday.

The governor visited Fall River to meet with city officials and area lawmakers Tuesday morning, as Bristol County District Attorney Tom Quinn prepares in the afternoon to release “certain preliminary findings” related to the fire that killed 10 residents of the Gabriel House assisted living center.

Even before Healey suggested that the Assisted Living Residence Commission would be working beyond its Aug. 1 deadline, Sen. Mark Montigny of New Bedford telegraphed his plan to seek an extension of at least 90 days when the commission meets Wednesday. When it met last week, some commission members wanted an extension and some wanted to issue a partial report while continuing to probe safety issues.

“After hearing from advocates who serve as the direct voice of residents, there is no question that the commission must take more time to ensure such a tragedy never happens again,” Montigny said, adding that he has been meeting with resident advocates over the last week. “Anything short of that will not be acceptable.”

Aging & Independence Secretary Robin Lipson, who chairs the commission, said last week she wanted to take time between the meetings to “think about how we balance the need to take a little more time on some issues, like the ones that we talked about that are directly influenced by what happened in Fall River, with the desire to share some of the great work we’ve already done with the Legislature.”

During her visit to Fall River on Tuesday, Healey announced that she was making $1.2 million in state funding available for Fall River to hire more emergency response personnel and that she had instructed her team to expedite the release of funds for a municipal public safety staffing program, a total of $5.7 million for 10 eligible municipalities.

Healey on Friday afternoon announced a spate of safety-focused changes that she said her administration is requiring assisted living centers to make in response to the Gabriel House fire.