ALBANY, NY (AP) – New York may have seen thousands of COVID-19 deaths among nursing home residents, the state attorney general charged Thursday in a report that struck a blow to the governor’s repeated claims Andrew Cuomo that his state does better than others in protecting the most vulnerable.
The 76-page report found an insufficiency of over 50%, supporting the findings of an Associated Press investigation last year, which focused on the fact that New York is one of the only states in the country that counts residents who died on the property of a nursing home and not those who later died in hospitals.
Such a shortcoming would mean that the current official state number of 8,711 deaths from nursing homes caused by the virus is actually more than 13,000, raising New York from number 6 to the highest level in the country.
“Although we cannot bring back the people we lost in this crisis, this report seeks to provide the transparency that the public deserves,” Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.
An official Democratic colleague’s report rejected Cuomo’s frequent argument that criticism of the virus’s handling of nursing homes was part of a political “blame game” and was a justification for thousands of families who believed their loved ones had been left behind. . from counting to advancing the governor’s image as a pandemic hero.
“It’s important to me that my mother was counted,” said Vivian Zayas, whose 78-year-old mother died in April after contracting COVID-19 at a nursing home in West Islip, New York. “Families like mine knew these numbers were incorrect.”
Cuomo’s office and the state health department did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
James has been examining for months the discrepancies between the number of deaths reported by the state Department of Health and the number of deaths reported by homes themselves.
Her investigators analyzed a sample of 62 of the state’s approximately 600 nursing homes. They reported 1,914 deaths of COVID-19 residents, while the state Department of Health recorded only 1,229 deaths at the same facilities. An unnamed unit, for example, had an official death toll of 11, but the prosecutor general’s investigation found that 40 actually died.
The PA’s August analysis concluded that the state could underestimate deaths by up to 65%, based on discrepancies between its totals and figures reported to federal regulators. This analysis was, like James’s report, based only on a slice of data, rather than a comprehensive one.
To date, despite public records from the PA and repeated requests from state and federal lawmakers, the New York Department of Health has not yet produced the full number of nursing home residents who have died in hospitals, as well as the properties of nursing homes. Health Commissioner Howard Zucker has said several times that the state is working on such data.
State Senator Gustavo Rivera, a Democrat who criticized the Cuomo administration for the total number of incomplete deaths, said he was “unfortunately surprised” by the report.
“Families who have lost loved ones deserve honest answers,” Rivera said. “For their sake, I hope this report will help us reveal the truth and implement policies to prevent such tragedies in the future.”
Cuomo, who last autumn released a book expressing his leadership on the treatment of the virus, did not shy away from using the smaller number of deaths in New York nursing homes to argue that his state is doing better. than others in terms of caring for those in such facilities.
“There’s no doubt we’re in this hyper-political environment, so everyone wants to point the finger,” Cuomo told CBS’s “This Morning” in October. “New York, in fact, is 46 out of 50 in terms of the percentage of deaths in nursing homes – 46 out of 50. So, yes, people have died in nursing homes. … but 46 out of 50 is not a predominant problem in New York. ”
The attorney general’s report also addressed the controversial New York policy of March 25, which sought to create more space in hospitals by releasing patients with COVID-19 in recovery in nursing homes, which critics have claimed is a determining factor in causing outbreaks of nursing homes.
James’s report said that these admissions “could have contributed to an increased risk of infection in the nursing home and subsequent deaths,” noting that at least 4,000 residents of the nursing home with COVID-19 died after this guidance. But James’ report said the issue would require further study to conclusively prove such a link.
The New York Department of Health released a much-criticized report last summer, claiming that the March 25 policy, which was reversed in May, was not a “significant factor” in deaths.
James’ review also found that the lack of infection controls in nursing homes puts residents at increased risk of harm, that homes with lower federal staffing scores had higher mortality rates, and that a large measure signed by Cuomo in April protected nursing homes and other services Healthcare providers in lawsuits may have actually encouraged nursing homes to stop hiring and training.
“As our pandemic and investigations continue,” she wrote, “it is imperative that we understand why New York nursing homes have suffered unnecessarily at such an alarming rate.”