JOINT RELEASE: Gottheimer, Pascrell Applaud Reports of Grand Jury Investigation into Paramus Veterans Home

Reported criminal probe comes after the Members demanded accountability for countless deaths at the facility

NORTH JERSEY – U.S. Reps. Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) and Bill Pascrell, Jr. (NJ-9) today praised reports of an opening of a criminal probe of the Paramus Veterans Home and the unspeakable deaths that occurred at the facility.

“The handling of the Paramus Veterans Home during the COVID-19 pandemic is one of the greatest tragedies our state has ever witnessed,” said Reps. Pascrell and Gottheimer. “The incompetence, negligence, and outright recklessness by facility management contributed to these residents’ untimely deaths. Because those failures may have been criminal, we have long called for accountability through the judicial system. The reports that the Attorney General has convened a grand jury can provide a measure of justice and accountability for the families and helps make sure a tragedy like this never happens again.”

Reps. Pascrell and Gottheimer have led calls for an investigation at the Paramus home since the outset of the coronavirus crisis. At their urging, the federal Veterans Affairs department sent 56 health care workers to support the facility. Infectious disease experts were also sent to Paramus to prevent spread of the virus at their request in April. The two Members visited the home in May and also participated in a House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing on coronavirus and veterans homes.

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