Another alarming story on the dead=trash in New York City: nursing homes may not be reporting the number of deaths from COVID-19 to the Department of Health.
This is a major scandal, and I'm sure that relatives of the dead who died alone and then were stacked into trucks, will sue.
The legacy of Mayor Bill de Blasio and the future political career of Governor Andrew Cuomo are going to be tarnished by this.
That's a good thing.
Cuomo Says Nursing Homes Accepted Coronavirus Patients For the Money and Tries To Exonerate Himself in the Nursing Home Scandal
Former NY State Governor George Pataki Says Gov. Cuomo's Nursing Home Strategy is a 'Disaster'
Betsy Combier, betsy.combier@gmail.com
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| New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo |
(CNN)There are 98 people who may have died from Covid-19 at the Isabella Center in New York City, according to a statement from the geriatric care facility.
This statement comes after New York Rep. Adriano Espaillat accused nursing homes of not accurately reporting Covid-19 deaths to the Department of Health.
Espaillat wrote a letter addressed to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York State Attorney General Letitia James calling for an investigation into nursing home facilities.
"Recent reports suggest that nursing home administrators across the state have abandoned transparency, leaving patients unnerved and their families unenlightened as to the status of their loved ones' health. By withholding important information regarding facility conditions, patients' status, and the accurate number of cases and deaths related to Covid-19 from families and elected officials, nursing home administrators are abnegating their most fundamental duty," Espaillat said in the letter.
As the virus hit the 705-bed center, the facility did not have access to testing to "quickly diagnose" residents and staff, according to a statement from Isabella Center.
It noted that more access to testing is available and that the center has reported accurate data to the Department of Health since the beginning of the pandemic.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to accurately reflect a statement from the Isabella Center.
by Melissa Klein and Susan Edelman, NY POST, May 2, 2020
The state is seeking to account for as many as 98 residents of the Isabella Geriatric Center in Washington Heights who have reportedly died of COVID-19, officials said Saturday.
The state lists only 13 deaths at the facility.
“We are working to verify all the information reported to us” at Isabella and all 613 nursing homes and 544 adult-care facilities, said Gary Holmes, a state Health Department spokesman.
Officials could not say whether Isabella deliberately misled the state. The facility insists it reported all deaths.
Gov. Cuomo Friday had harsh words for nursing homes, saying they submit numbers “under penalty of perjury.”
“You violate, you commit fraud, that is a criminal offense, period. So they can be prosecuted criminally for fraud on any of these reporting numbers,” he said.
On Saturday, a state Department of Heath website listed 13 deaths of Isabella residents as of May 1 despite news reports that nearly 100 facility residents had died.
The nursing home has acknowledged 60 confirmed and suspected COVID-19 deaths at the massive, 705-bed facility, plus 38 others who died of confirmed or suspected cases in the hospital.
Snafus in the state monitoring system are widespread, The Post found.
At the sprawling Hebrew Home in Riverdale, 25 residents have died of suspected or confirmed cases of the coronavirus since March 1, a spokeswoman said, but the state still lists the number at zero.
The largest private nursing home in the state with 751 beds, Hebrew Home says half of the 14 patients who died in its beds were confirmed COVID-19 cases and half were presumed to have it. And another 11 of its residents died of the bug after being transported to hospitals.
“The Hebrew Home has been and continues to be fully transparent in its reporting of deaths due to covid,” spokeswoman Wendy Steinberg said.
The state website also lists the wrong name of a nursing home run by city Health + Hospitals.
An Isabella spokesperson declined to comment Saturday, but said last week, “From the beginning of this pandemic, Isabella has reported truthful and accurate data requested by the Department of Health. We have shared daily the number of confirmed and presumed positive cases at both the residence and hospital, including deaths.”
The state in the past had cited Isabella, and other nursing homes, for letting oxygen tubes connected to patients sit on the floor.
State health official Holmes said the agency is trying to “determine whether [the] facility is under reporting. We have not found that yet.
“We went back and asked every nursing home to provide all COVID-19 deaths, both confirmed and unconfirmed,” he said.
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