During a press call on Wednesday, Finger Lakes News Radio asked Kuvom about his administration’s advice in late March that nursing homes accept hospital admissions, even if it is positive for Kovid-19.
The governor’s office has repeatedly said the advisory is based on federal guidelines, which prohibit discrimination based on coronavirus diagnosis. “During that time, residents were admitted to nursing homes not as an overflow facility, but where they live,” the state health department told CNN.
Cuomo said advisers are cautious if hospitals are overflowing – calling it a “precautionary rule” – which he said has not happened.
“We never needed a nursing home bed because we always had hospital beds,” Kumo told Finger Lakes News. “So that’s never happened in New York where we had to tell a nursing home, ‘We need to take this guy, even though he’s covid-positive.’ It never happened. “
First facts: Cuomo’s claim that “it never happened” is false. According to one Report From the New York State Department of Health, “6,326 civil positive residents were admitted [nursing home] Facilities “Facilities following Cuomo’s order that nursing homes accept admission of covid-positive patients from hospitals. This happened in fact whether it was” necessary “or not.
Kuomo’s senior adviser, Rich Azzarpodi, responded Thursday after the release, raising the issue with determination, saying the governor was specifically referring to the shortage of hospital beds. “The governor was clear crystal, saying that what didn’t happen was a shortage of hospital beds, especially every projection predicted by the federal government. This is what he said never happened. The separate law has always been nursing homes only. Only the residents could accept that he could take adequate care of them. Nothing has changed. “
On March 25, the state health department advised nursing homes to accept “quick receipts from residents returning from hospitals” if patients were considered medically stable.
“No resident will be denied re-entry or re-entry [nursing home] Based solely on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19, “the consultant said.”[Nursing homes] It is essentially forbidden for a resident to be admitted to a hospital that is medically stable to be tested for COVID-19 before admission or reading. “
The order was heavily criticized, and Cuomo issued an executive order on May 10 replacing consultants, ensuring that hospitals undergo a negative test before being discharged into nursing homes.
The Associated Press reported on May 21 that “more than 4,500,000 recovered coronavirus patients were sent to already weak nursing homes in New York under state advice.”
In July, the state health department released a report that found that “approximately 6,326 COVID-positive residents were admitted to the facilities between March 25, 2020 and May 8, 2020.”
There has been a lot of discussion about how and if this counselor contributed to the significant coronavirus death toll seen in nursing homes in New York. A July report from the state health department argued that the counselor “could not be the driver of a nursing home infection or fatality,” although many experts disagreed, noting that the report’s conclusion was based on case and mortality time, not the report’s acknowledgment. , Based on contact with patients, staff or family members.
UPDATE: This title has been updated to correct an earlier version that misrepresented Cuomo’s comments about New York nursing homes taking covid-positive patients. The story has been updated to include a comment from the governor’s office.
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