November 23, 2020

Marylou Sudders, MSW, ACSW

Secretary, Health and Human Services
1 Ashburton Place
Boston, MA 02108

Dear Secretary Sudders,

The Holyoke City Council is writing to you in regards to the need for additional Stop-The-
Spread testing locations in Western Massachusetts. The City of Holyoke is overburdened by the
volume of testing that is happening at our two Stop-the-Spread testing locations. By providing
access to free, no-appointment testing, our City is servicing the entire region with precious
CARES Act funds that could be applied in a more creative manner locally. We write to
respectfully request that you and the Department of Public Health remedy the
disproportionate burden of responsibility that has been placed on the City of Holyoke by
opening additional testing sites in Hampshire, Franklin, and/or Berkshire Counties.

A recent note to city departments dated November 13, 2020 from Holyoke Health Director, Sean
Gonsalves, stated that our Stop-The-Spread sites at Holyoke Community College and at 323
Appleton Street are generating more than 600 visitors over the course of the four to five they are
open hours. People are lining up hours in advance for testing, waiting on average three or more
hours in line, and regularly turned away well before the testing site reaches its closing time. The
sites are not able to accommodate this level of traffic and are turning away hundreds of people
each week who are seeking access to testing.

We understand that Holyoke made the decision early on in the pandemic to allocate it CARES
Act funds to the establishment of two easily-accessible COVID-19 testing sites in order to
contain the high rate of COVID incidence in our city. However, the lack of more widespread
testing in Western Massachusetts is doubly disadvantaging our city and its residents. By creating
long wait times and limited testing capacity, the frustrations that our residents have with timely
and efficient access are reducing people’s volition to get tested in the first place—the barrier to
entry is too high and people who would benefit from testing are forgoing the option.
Additionally, by attracting many visitors from beyond Holyoke, we are reducing the testing sites’
ability to actually service Holyoke residents who have been identified as living in a “highest
risk” community for multiple weeks by the State’s “Weekly COVID-19 Public Health Report”
and town-by-town assessments. This has a deleterious effect our city’s ability to curb the number
of cases we are experiencing.

While Holyoke has very conscientiously invested its CARES Act funds into increased testing
opportunities to curb the spread of the coronavirus locally, this is a cost that we bear with
significant social justice implications. Across the nation, we have witnessed the ways that

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COVID-19 disproportionately impacts low-income communities and communities of color.
According to the 2018 American Community Survey, Holyoke has almost three times as many
people living in poverty (29.7%) than the percent of people living in poverty across the State.
Holyoke is also home to a large percentage of people of color (4.5% Black alone, 52.1%
Hispanic or Latino) which distinguishes the city from its neighbors in Western Massachusetts. It
is a race-biased policy outcome when the City of Holyoke must divert valuable CARES Act
funding to the establishment of Stop-the-Spread testing locations that are enjoyed by the entire
region while our neighboring, wealthier and more race-privileged communities can direct their
CARES Act funds towards their own downtown and economic stabilization measures.

Again, we urge you remedy the disproportionate social and financial burdens that have been
placed on the City of Holyoke by opening additional testing sites in Hampshire, Franklin, and/or
Berkshire Counties. We thank you for taking seriously the concerns that we have with the way
that the State has constrained our ability to leverage limited CARES Act funding to meet the
most pressing needs of our citizens. The addition of multiple testing sites to the region is a
meaningful first step toward ensuring equitable access to health care and economic opportunity
in Western Massachusetts.

Respectfully,

Holyoke City Council members

Todd, McGee, President, Ward 7

Howard Greaney Jr., At Large
Michael J. Sullivan, At Large
James M. Leahy, At Large
Rebecca Lisi, At Large
Joseph M. McGiverin, At Large
Peter R. Tallman, At Large
Gladys Lebron-Martinez, Ward 1
Terence Murphy, Ward 2
David K. Bartley, Ward 3
Libby Hernandez, Ward 4
Linda Vacon, Ward 5
Juan C. Anderson-Burgos, Ward 6

Cc: Health Director Sean Gonsalves

Mayor Alex Morse
State Representative Aaron Vega
State Senator John Velis
Health and Human Services Chief of Staff, Leslie Darcy
Governor Baker Chief of Staff, Kristen Lepore