As the state embarks on a $482 million project to rebuild the the Holyoke Soldiers Home, there’s plans for memorial garden dedicated to the dozens of former service members who died, far from war or conflict, while ostensibly under the care of the Commonwealth.

Having survived what turmoil battle brought to their lives or withstood the extraordinary physical and mental pressures of military service through peacetime, these veterans will tragically be memorialized not for what they did, but for what wasn’t done for them.

“You cannot ignore the tragedy of what happened here,” U.S. Rep. Richard Neal said Monday.

The Congressman, joined by Gov. Maura Healey, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, and Secretary of the Executive Office of Veterans’ Services Dr. Jon Santiago, was on hand to break ground on a $482 million care home to be built adjacent to the state’s current veteran’s hospital, a project that comes in no small part to make up for the government’s failures at the last facility.

In April of 2020, as the COVID-19 virus raced across continents and the world’s health experts struggled to provide a terrified populace with explanation on how to handle everyday life alongside a new and potentially fatal contagious disease, the state-run veterans care hospital in south central Massachusetts became home to one of the deadliest outbreaks at a nursing care facility in the country.

According to a report commissioned by the state, the then superintendent of the long-term care home is alleged to have responded to staffing shortages at the care home with the “utterly baffling” decision to combine COVID infected patients with non-infected patients. At least 76 veterans housed in a 230-bed facility died as a result. More than 80 other residents and as many staff members were infected with the virus.

Sen. John Velis said Monday that in the midst of the tragedy, when he spoke to the families of victims and loved ones who still had relatives at the facility, they were clear that hospital management needed to go, that the “governing structure” of the care facility needed to include a cabinet level figure with access to the Governor, and that they needed a new building.

“Today, we’re honored to start that process,” Velis said.

Santiago, appointed by Healey as the state’s first cabinet level veteran’s secretary, announced in spring his office had reached an agreement with the Department of Veterans Affairs to help fund replacement for the outdated 1950s era hospital. Grant funding provided through the VA’s State Home Construction Grant Program will cover $263.5 million of construction costs.

“Our best days are still ahead, because we are committed to making sure that Massachusetts is second to no one when it comes to veterans services and to do so, not just with words, but with actions,” Santiago, who is commissioned as a Major in the U.S. Army Reserve, said Monday. “I can assure you that better days are ahead at Holyoke.”

“Although we can’t change the past, we can shape the future, and that’s what today is about,” he said.

Construction, which visibly started on the project before the governor and congressman joined staff and community leaders to toss dirt with silver shovels this week, is expected to wrap in 2026, with patients slowly transitioning from the old hospital to the new as wings are completed.

The new eight floor facility will house 234 veterans in long-term care, boast upgraded clinical services, a 30-bed dedicated memory care floor, provide an “Adult Day Health Program” for up to 40 veterans, and provide on site physical therapy and dental care to patients.

Former Veterans’ Home in Holyoke superintendent Bennett Walsh and former medical director David Clinton have been indicted by a grand jury on five charges of “Wanton or Reckless Bodily Injury to an Elder or Disabled Person” with legal action still pending.