A shocking expose in the January 14th edition of The Boston Globe revealed that tens of thousands of medical records about disabled people--many of whom are alive today--were left open and exposed to thousands of vandals in a former disability institution in Waltham, Massachusetts, called the Walter E. Fernald Developmental Center. 

We demand that investigations are opened into the potential violation of patient privacy, the abuse of civil rights, fraud, waste, and abuse of power by the City of Waltham, Department of Developmental Services and others.

We ask

• U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy
• Mass. Governor Maura Healey
• Attorney General Andrea Campbell
• Secretary of State William Galvin
• Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro
• and Supervisor of Public Records Manza Arthur

--all of whom have responsibilities to act--to do so. 

Continue reading below for more specific information:

 

 

What's the Story

The City of Waltham bought the 196-acre property, with dozens of well-maintained buildings from the state in 2014, using city and state money. Watham's mayor and city council promised historic preservation and site-wide security and environmental restoration of wetlands. 

The city's mayor signed a major preservation agreement and Community Preservation Act taxpayer-funding documents promising to do so. Instead no preservation was done, and no consistent security was provided. The result? Hundreds of millions of dollars of property--much of which was renovated within the last 25 years--has been destroyed by vandals and the city has known about it for years. 

Shockingly, when the state left the property, thousands of documents were left behind and just as shockingly the city appears to have failed--for nearly ten years--to report or get the state to act to remove tens of thousands of pages of patient records left behind in city-owned buildings. 

As early as 2016, newspaper accounts show that the city's fire chief knew that teenagers had committed arson at the site using documents left behind in buildings.

Instead of doing the right thing, city leaders used a campaign of public intimidation to silence critics while appearing to dole out political favors for the use of the land to their supporters. 

These documents were left behind by various groups that used the buildings including:

• The Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services
• The Walter E. Fernald Corporation
• The Fernald League
• The Employee Union

When vacating these buildings, none of these parties ensured the safe handling of private medical records, nor did the state's Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance.

At the very same time, family members of deceased Fernald residents cannot get records about their loved ones and former residents cannot get their own records.

After Years of Failure, Leaders Must Act

• The Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General is charged with investigating "fraud, waste, and abuse" and considers the intentional destruction of property and misuse of funds as forms of fraud, waste and abuse. We ask that the Office of the Inspector General thoroughly investigate the City of Waltham's failure to secure the site, use of political favors, attempts to destroy the site, and failure to adhere to agreements made with the state, when sites of similar size and scale have been easily protected elsewhere in the Commonwealth under the very same agreements.
• Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell must investigate the Department of Developmental Services, DCAMM, the Walter E. Fernald Corporation, Employee Union, and Fernald League for failing to properly secure records and failure to adhere to requirements for document handling set forth by the Supervisor of Public Records of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. We ask that they review all potential violations of the civil rights of former residents of state institutions impacted by this issue. In addition we ask that they investigate the City of Waltham's use of public taxpayer funds under the Community Preservation Act, their selective application of site security at the Fernald Center, city leaders' potential use of the site to enrich political allies, and their failure to take actionable steps to secure the records of disabled people, including their potential violation of the civil rights of disabled people by potentially knowingly failing to secure documents.
• The Secretary of the Commonwealth and Supervisor of Public Records must investigate potential violations of the 2014 Memorandum of Understanding between the city and state at the time of purchase, as well as potential violations by state agencies and the city regarding the reporting and safe retention, handling, and disposal of private medical records.
• U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy must investigate the Commonwealth of Massachusetts's potential violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996; potential violations of the civil rights of disabled people who lived in state institutions and whose documents were left exposed by the City of Waltham; and the potential fraudulent use of public funds and public property by the City of Waltham. 
• Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey must issue an immediate executive order to allow former residents and the immediate family members of deceased residents of state institutions access to records without impediment or delay.