Will Secretary of State Andrew Cuomo allow anything resembling an external review of New York’s coronavirus nursing homes? The test case is a bilingual bill of state sen. Jim Tedisco and Assemblyman Ron Kim.
At the height of the pandemic, the March 25 mandate put the infected patients among the elderly – who Cuomo acknowledged are the most vulnerable to the virus. The gov insists that any criticism of that order is pure politics.
The bill calls for an independent inquiry into, as sponsors put it, “fully investigating policies that led to the deaths of thousands of New Yorkers in nursing home facilities” during the pandemic.
Team Cuomo has stonewalled all efforts to get answers, and legislators are furious.
“Some problems cross partisan politics,” said Tedisco (R-Glenville), and the needless deaths of thousands is one of them.
‘Do not publish a damn book now. Take responsibility for what happens, ‘fell a confused sen. Gustavo Rivera (D-Bronx) on this week’s Forum Report on the issue.
One important point: Cuomo officials will not provide data on nursing home residents who died in hospitals. “If you die in the nursing home, it’s a nursing home death. If you die in the hospital, it’s called a hospital death, “Cuomo told WAMC Radio in defense of the decision to stop giving a public count of the latter – although New York is the only major state to keep this info secret.
‘It seems, sir. . . you choose to define it differently so you can see better, “Rivera told Health Commissioner Howard Zucker at a Aug. 3 hearing.
Zucker acknowledged that the state has both numbers – but even refused to provide a rough estimate when lawmakers demanded one. Weeks later, he has not yet shared the data.
The bilingual bill is not perfect. The five members of its committee would be appointed by a majority of the House of Representatives and minority leaders, the speaker and the minority leader of the Assembly, and the Attorney General. The Democratic leaders hardly stand over Cuomo, while AG Letitia James owes her position to his sponsorship. This poses a real risk of money laundering.
That the gov withdrew the mandate in May suggests that he knew it was a fatal mistake. The virus killed at least 6,400 nursing home residents – and the real number, the one Zucker refuses to disclose, could be twice that.
The people of New York deserve answers. If Cuomo and his allies do not even allow this commission to look for them, it is compelling evidence of guilt.
.
