24 August 2021: Hochul Promises Post-Cuomo New York Will Come Clean on COVID, Nursing Home Deaths

Hochul promises her administration will be ‘transparent’ with nursing home, pandemic data

In a welcome development, newly sworn in New York Governor Kathy Hochul is attempting to break with the Cuomo administration's practices of either concealing or deceptively representing New York's public data on COVID deaths.

“My administration will be very transparent with respect to documents pertaining to nursing homes and anything related to the pandemic,” Hochul pledged — without elaborating further — during a closed-door, virtual meeting held last Thursday with the state’s congressional delegation, according to audio obtained by The Post.

The declaration followed a question from upstate Rep. Elise Stefanik, who raised the importance of starting a “new chapter in transparency and accountability,” probing the new governor over what her plan is when it comes to fixing the Empire State’s marred nursing home record.

“I know many of us represent families who have lost loved ones in our nursing homes, and I just want to reiterate the importance, I believe, of turning the page and having a new chapter in transparency and accountability when it comes to our nursing home crisis,” said Stefanik.

“I want to just call on you to have an independent review of our nursing home pandemic response to ensure that we can protect our elderly in future outbreaks. We want to make sure the data is released and it’s transparent.”

“Again, this is a nonpartisan issue I have spoken with families who are heartbroken,” she added.

Around 15,000 residents of nursing homes and other elder care facilities have died in the state due COVID-19 since the pandemic’s start, according to state Health Department records.

In addition to following through on her pledge, we think both Hochul and the people of New York would benefit from establishing a commission with subpoena powers to fully investigate the experience that nursing homes and group homes had under Andrew M. Cuomo's policies during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. That investigation should also probe the role that state government officials in the Executive Office and the New York Department of Health had in developing, implementing and enforcing those policies.

We think that without such a commission, Hochul will have an uphill battle to restore trust in New York's state government. It's also a much needed precursor to developing effective reforms to prevent similar deadly outcomes in the future, which would be the next step after the investigation commission completes its limited task. Since Hochul plans to run for election as NY governor in 2022, it would be to her advantage to run on a reform platform based on her commission's findings.

It would also help identify which officials will need to be replaced in the full housecleaning that's desperately needed in these state government bodies in Albany after nearly 11 years of Andrew M. Cuomo's tenure in office.

Regardless of whether she adopts these suggestions or not, we'll soon know how truly serious Hochul is about cleaning up the mess Andrew M. Cuomo left behind.