13 March 2021: Washington State Governor Has COVID Nursing Home Deaths Scandal

Washington Governor Inslee revealed to have sent COVID patients into nursing homes

A sixth state governor has now been confirmed to have implemented COVID nursing home policies similar to those that contributed to thousands of deaths in other states. This report presents evidence that Washington Governor Inslee was the first to craft policies that spread coronavirus infections among nursing home residents to keep patients out of hospitals:

Washington State sent COVID patients into nursing homes to "…create capacity for hospitals" during the initial outbreak. This new revelation follows Dr. Kathy Lofy, the state's health officer, suddenly announcing her resignation from her position with the state Department of Health, even as Washington continues to grapple with an ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

In newly disclosed communications, Candace Goehring, Director of Residential Care services for the state, sent a letter to "Nursing Facility/Home Administrators" asking them to take COVID patients and also enticing them with Medicaid funds. "Nursing Homes that admit these patients will receive a $100 add on to the Medicaid nursing home rate…"

The letter was dated almost three weeks after the virus outbreak in Washington State swept through a nursing home in Kirkland, killing the majority of residents. As a result of the spread, Washington was the initial epicenter of the virus in the US.

Here's a link to an image of the letter. Dated 20 March 2020, it precedes New York's deadly 25 March 2020 directive by five days. It also shows a difference in approach by Governor Inslee's administration, which used the carrots of additional funds to entice nursing homes to take in COVID patients discharged from hospitals while Governor Cuomo's administration opted for the stick.

Although the state of Washington was an early hotbed for the spread of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infections, the virus didn't gain the same toehold that it did in New York, and specifically, in New York City, which ultimately fed most of the pandemic in the U.S.

The other governors who adopted policies that deliberately placed patients known to be infected with the coronavirus into nursing homes to free up hospital beds include Michigan's Gretchen Whitmer, New York's Andrew Cuomo, New Jersey's Phil Murphy, Pennsylvania's Tom Wolf, and California's Gavin Newsom. Of these governors, only California's Newsom rescinded his administration's policy within a few days of it going into effect, avoiding the catastrophe of excessive COVID deaths that followed in the others.