Bedford VA Stairwell Death: DA Says It Can’t Determine Neglect

BEDFORD, MA — Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said her office could not determine if the death of a 62-year-old veteran found dead in a Bedford VA Hospital stairwell a month after he was reported missing was the product of wanton or reckless hospital staff conduct.

Timothy White was found dead on June 12, in the stairwell of a building in the Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital campus in Bedford. He was found a month after he was reported missing in the building operated by Caritas Communities where he was living.

The DA's the review found that given the delay in discovering White’s body in the stairwell, the Medical Examiner was not able to determine whether he died of natural causes where he was found or if he was injured or incapacitated for a period of time before his death, either from dehydration or lack of medical treatment.

While the DA couldn’t determine if the hospital was at fault, they did offer several recommendations to ensure a similar situation never happen again. The recommendations included improved communication with the families, as well as clear guidelines that Caritas must distribute to and train staff on.

In a statement releasing the findings, the DA acknowledged that White's family suffered from the handling of the situation and will continue to suffer "the terrible fate of not knowing how he died or whether anything could have been done to assist him."

The family found out that White was found dead in a stairwell through media reports, after being told only that he had died, according to the report.

Rep. Seth Moulton issued a statement regarding the findings and targeted the Bedford VA Police Department for the lack of communication and processes in White's case.

"This is a fact: the Bedford VA Police Department failed to locate a missing veteran in the care of Caritas on the VA’s campus, steps from his bed, for five weeks. That’s unacceptable and emblematic of the lack of accountability at the Bedford VA Police Department, which lost my trust long ago. A year ago, after Congressional pressure, the VA Secretary announced national reforms to the VA Police Department. I wanted to give those reforms time to work. Clearly, they have failed. I have begun identifying legislative and Congressional oversight action to reform the VA Police Department independently from the VA Secretary. This investigation has made clear that local police forces should be given lead investigatory authority when lives are on the line. The federal government should fund local police investigations on VA campuses. I urge the Inspector General to conclude the federal investigation as soon as possible and to propose additional legislative reforms in the IG report to Congress concerning leased facilities. We know about the VA Police Department’s failures of accountability in large part because of journalists. I want to single out The Boston Globe’s reporters and editors for telling Mr. White’s story and keeping the spotlight on the VA Police’s misconduct," Moulton said in a statement.

The findings can be viewed in the full report here.