Tuesday, May 24, 2022

24 May 2022: Hochul Pledges New Investigation of COVID-19 Nursing Home Deaths

Hochul pledges new investigation of COVID-19 nursing home deaths

Since assuming power on 24 August 2021, replacement NY Governor Kathy Hochul has done very little to address Andrew M. Cuomo's COVID nursing home deaths scandals. This report, dated exactly nine months later, indicates Hochul is finally taking her first serious steps toward investigating the systemic and leadership failures that led to the excess COVID deaths of hundreds, if not thousands, of New York nursing home residents during the period Cuomo's deadly 25 March 2020 directive was in effect.

Gov. Kathy Hochul expects to soon launch an independent analysis to examine the state's decisions made during the COVID-19 pandemic, which could include what contributed to the thousands of coronavirus deaths attributed to the spread of the disease in nursing homes, she said Tuesday at the Capitol.

Although the governor has previously spoken broadly about a plan to have a state-backed review of the response to the pandemic, particularly from the early days two years ago, Hochul for the first time made it clear her office is compiling a team with that sole purpose.

"It's going to take some time, but I believe that history deserves to have a true record of what happened here," Hochul said from the Red Room in the Capitol following an unrelated bill signing.

Hochul's newly announced policy comes one day after USA Today published its report finding New York's Department of Health failed to substantiate 96% of COVID-era nursing home complaints filed from 1 January 2020 through 14 January 2022. The report confirmed massive, systemic failures within New York's Department of Health related to its oversight of nursing homes that arguably reached all the way to the top of New York's state government while Cuomo was in power.

Those oversight failures are now extending into Hochul's administration, which we think almost certainly forced her hand to finally address the problem. Had she not, she would have risked becoming accountable for the deadly outcome of Cuomo's nursing home deaths scandals.

While continuing to do nothing would serve the political interests of powerful members of her political party, many of whom were complicit in Cuomo's COVID nursing home deaths scandals, we think Hochul may now be putting her political interests ahead of theirs. That's because the issue will not go away and because she cannot afford the political cost of being seen as complicit in Cuomo's biggest scandals herself.

Others share skepticism for whether Hochul's announced pledge to investate Cuomo's COVID nursing home deaths scandals will go far enough.

Assemblyman Ron T. Kim, D-Queens, has been extremely vocal in calling for a full accounting of what happened in nursing homes and the sources of scores of coronavirus-related deaths. He is pushing for legislation with state Sen. James Tedisco, R-Glenville, that would call for the state to pursue an investigation with subpoena power into the 15,000 nursing home deaths.

Following Hochul's announcement, Kim said that he was both unaware of the plan's details or the timing.

"If this is truly an independent, bipartisan effort to get to the truth, I welcome it," Kim said.

Kim said he is willing to give the administration the benefit of the doubt and is open to conversations and the pending analysis.

The bottom line is the action is long overdue. We'll see how it goes.

More Background from the Timeline

-