LI Politicians Call For Investigation Into Nursing Home Deaths

LONG ISLAND, NY — Two Long Island assemblymen are calling for an deeper investigation into nursing homes and other long-term care facilities reporting high rates of deaths due to the coronavius. Earlier this month, New York State released data which revealed that at least 13 Long Island nursing homes have seen 10 deaths or more related to the coronavirus outbreak, and seven of them saw more than 20 deaths as of Thursday. Thousands of nursing home residents have died from the virus in New York, according to the data, including 162 in Nassau County and 186 in Suffolk. Last month, a New York State Department of Health directive stated that nursing home and other long-term care facilities across the state who accepted patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 most likely led to the deaths and/or infections of thousands of the most vulnerable citizens.

As a result, Assemblyman Andrew Garbarino, who represents the 7th district, a member of the Assembly Committee on Health, is calling for the committee to discover what made New York nursing homes especially vulnerable to high COVID-19 death rates. He and his colleague, Assemblyman Kevin Byrne, who represents the 94th district, who is the ranking Republican of the Assembly Health Committee, wrote Assemblyman Richard Gotfried, the committee chair calling for a hearing into the problems faced by nursing homes when managing the COVID-19 response.

"Every day I receive calls from family members who are worried sick about their loved ones in nursing homes where the death rate has been devastatingly high. Our state health officials knew very well how dangerous the coronavirus is for the elderly, yet forced these facilities to take in COVID-19 patients even when they were still sick which introduced this lethal virus into a highly vulnerable population," he said. "It is not enough to say that the attorney general will take care of it or that the Department of Health will oversee this, the legislature needs to step in and provide oversight in the matter. This cannot happen again. We need to make sure our most vulnerable New Yorkers are protected."

Garbarino believes the legislature should conduct hearings to discover the systematic problems faced by nursing homes during the response to this crisis. Discovery from these hearings, along with efforts from the attorney general and the Department of Health, can lead to better strategies and policies for nursing home facilities during pandemic health crises in the future.

In addition, Assemblyman Mike LiPetri, who represents the 9th district, also responded to the directive, saying that a "fully federal investigation" into the matter is necessary.

"Make no mistake, this policy not only defies common-sense, it puts those most vulnerable in our society face-to-face with this deadly virus," LiPetri said. "While facts and information have changed daily, the one constant throughout has been the fact that seniors and those with serious medical conditions are most at-risk. To deliberately put them in harms-way is simply inexcusable."