Overview

• State regulators revealed that Gabriel House lost its certification in March 2016 after finding it failed to treat residents with dignity and barred new admissions until corrective actions were completed
• Newly released Executive Office of Aging & Independence files detail more than two dozen complaints over the past decade, including abuse, neglect, financial exploitation, broken elevators, staff threats and withheld medication
• Records confirm the facility faced an earlier licensure suspension in 2010 and was most recently recertified in 2024 without further state actions
• Investigators have narrowed the fire’s ignition to a medical oxygen concentrator or improper smoking but have not reached a definitive conclusion as owner Dennis Etzkorn cooperates with authorities
• Governor Healey has funded expanded first-responder staffing, ordered safety audits of all 273 assisted-living homes and her oversight commission has postponed its report to incorporate these findings