Cuomo faces fallout from COVID nursing home error

NEW YORK STATE — Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo’s March 25th executive decision last year to send New York seniors infected with the coronavirus to nursing homes throughout the state has had repercussions that continue to shake Albany — with State Senator Sue Serino (R-41) and others announcing on Friday, Feb. 19, they want “a top down, independent investigation in the state’s handling of this crisis and an immediate revocation of the governor’s emergency powers.”

Serino lays it on the line

Serino’s demand followed a court order and a report from State Attorney General Letitia James that nursing home resident deaths nearly doubled from roughly 8,500 to more than 15,000. Originally, those additional nursing home deaths were reported as having happened in hospitals.

The state senator issued a statement to the press, along with State Sen. Jim Tedisco (R-49), referring to a report by the nonpartisan Empire Center for Public Policy that found the release of COVID-positive patients into vulnerable nursing home facilities, especially those upstate, was devastating. The senators quoted from the Empire Center study, which stated upstate “facilities that admitted at least one positive patient during this period accounted for 82% of coronavirus deaths among nursing home residents, even though they had only 32% of the residents.” 

Serino is also faulting New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker for his role in the controversy.

“Numbers don’t lie, and this report unfortunately cements our worst fears, that the March 25th order is associated with a statistically significant increase in resident deaths,” said Serino, ranking member of the State Senate’s Aging Committee. 

Yet Zucker, who has repeatedly said older, more vulnerable patients risked secondary infections if they remained in hospital settings, claimed that 98% of those senior facilities already had COVID cases on site, according to a Feb. 19 report published on www.bloomberg.com. 

According to Bloomberg, the health commissioner said “there were COVID deaths in 132 nursing homes that never took a COVID victim from a hospital.”

Serino, Tedisco and some of their Republican colleagues  have accused the Cuomo administration of “dragging their feet” on conducting an independent investigation, which they’ve been requesting for months, and for refusing to issue subpoenas.

Meanwhile, “The FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York have opened inquiries” into the actions of Cuomo’s administration, according to the Bloomberg report, while U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat representing The Bronx, and Republican Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa have also called for federal investigations. 

County executive also demands answers

Republican Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, who ran unsuccessfully against Cuomo for the governorship in 2018 and lost his father to COVID-19 early during the pandemic, has also come out swinging. He issued a statement on Thursday, Feb. 18.

“It is more important than ever for us to have trust in government and our leaders,” stated Molinaro. “COVID has caused a public health crisis, the governor’s nursing home policy led to excruciating pain and lives lost while his lies have created a crisis in confidence. Day after day, month after month, Andrew Cuomo took to the airwaves, looked New Yorkers in the eye and lied. It is clear his administration, at the highest levels, conspired to keep the truth from New Yorkers.” 

Molinaro also made comments that alluded to statements made by Democratic Assemblyman Ron Kim of Queens, who told CNN the governor tried to intimidate him, during an interview on CNN on Wednesday, Feb. 17. 

Kim said Cuomo asked him to cover up for what an aide reportedly said in private about delaying telling the legislature about details of the COVID-related death toll among nursing home residents in the state due to concerns of a possible Trump Department of Justice investigation. 

“When he feared it was no longer possible to conceal the facts, the governor personally used threats and authority of his office to continue to hide the truth and obstruct justice,” stated Molinaro. “I join with those calling to form an Impeachment Commission to gather the facts surrounding Governor Cuomo’s deadly nursing home policy and the ongoing cover-up. I urge my colleagues in Albany and Washington, regardless of party, to support this sad but necessary action. Andrew Cuomo has betrayed New Yorkers and his oath of office.”

The governor responds

Cuomo, for his part, acknowledged that he made an error in how he handled the situation on Monday, Feb. 15, while speaking in the State Capitol.

“We made a mistake in creating the void,” he said. “When we didn’t provide information, it allowed press, people, cynics, politicians to fill the void. When you don’t correct disinformation, you allow it to continue. I take responsibility for that. We did create the void and that created pain and I feel very badly about that.”

Meanwhile, last week the State Senate, led by Cuomo’s own party, was in the final stages of drawing up a bill to strip the governor of the emergency powers that were granted to him during the pandemic. If approved, it could pass this week. It would also create a 10-person commission to evaluate any pandemic-related directives the governor hopes to pass in the future.

New legislation

On Friday, Feb. 19, Cuomo proposed sweeping new legislation to increase transparency, hold nursing home operators accountable for misconduct and ensure facilities prioritize patient care over profits. The proposed law seeks to increase penalties for health violations, create a nursing home profit cap and require nursing homes spend 70% of their revenue on direct patient care and 40% of their revenue on staffing. 

According to the governor’s website, www.governor.ny.gov, violators will face “civil monetary penalties up to $25,000 for violations of the Public Health Law,” after being given a “30-day period to rectify violations.” 

“[This legislation] is the only way families will have peace of mind and I won’t sign a budget that doesn’t include these common-sense reforms,” stated Cuomo online.