Still pressing for answers four years later, state legislators marked the anniversary of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s decision to send COVID victims to nursing homes, leading to the deaths of nearly 15,000 seniors. The infamous order was a public health catastrophe that devastated long-term care facilities and nursing home populations during the pandemic.
Local officials assembled in Albany along with organizations such as Voices for Seniors and residents who lost family members after Cuomo directed COVID-infected patients from hospitals to the senior homes. The group renewed their call for a long-awaited independent review of the state’s disastrous COVID response. Despite commitments from the Hochul Administration to conduct an investigation, little to no progress has been made, they noted. As thousands of families continue to wait for answers, the investigation process has only identified an outside consultant, The Olson Group, Ltd., from Virginia. Hochul was also urged to convene a promised “Reimagining Long-Term Care Task Force.”
“Assembly and Senate Republicans have repeatedly requested legislative hearings equipped with subpoena power to seek answers and provide accountability for the families who lost loved ones due to the previous administration’s mishandling of the pandemic,” said Medford Assemblyman Joseph DeStefano, a Republican who attended the somber anniversary event. “The now publicly disclosed intentional omission of information by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his staff, and the damaging reports from Comptroller Tom DiNapoli and Attorney General Letitia James support the need for further examination of the state’s COVID response by an independent entity. The lack of action is verging on criminal negligence.”
“Four years. Over 15,000 dead. No one has been held accountable,” said Tracey Alvino of Voices for Seniors,” whose grandmother died of “failure to thrive, which became an epidemic on death certificates as the elderly withered away and gave up on life.” Alvino promised: “We won’t stop until there is justice for every person that was killed with a stroke of Andrew Cuomo’s pen.”
Earlier this month, Cuomo, a Democrat, was subpoenaed by a Congressional panel investigating his role in the pandemic. “Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo implemented nursing home policies that had deadly consequences for New York’s most vulnerable population,” said the chairman of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, Ohio Republican Brad Wenstrup. “Not only did the former governor put the elderly in harm’s way, but he also attempted to cover up his failures by hiding the true nursing home death rate. It appears that politics, not medicine, was responsible for these decisions and that while Mr. Cuomo is adept at seeking legal advice, he is not necessarily adept at seeking medical advice.” Wenstrup continued: “Former Gov. Cuomo owes answers to the 15,000 families who lost loved ones in New York nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. His testimony is crucial to uncovering the circumstances that led to his misguided policies and for ensuring that fatal mistakes never happen again. It is well past time for Cuomo to stop dodging accountability to Congress and start answering honestly to the American people.”
The subpoena moved a Cuomo spokesman to lash out in a statement: "This is an obvious press charade: they issue a subpoena as a press release. The simple fact remains that this issue has been reviewed three times by the Department of Justice under Trump and Biden, as well as Congress and the Manhattan District Attorney who found no there there. New York followed the guidance put forth by the Trump administration in March of 2020 - as did other Democratic and Republican states. If they have a problem with that, they should look in the mirror. Congress knows this, but it's not about the facts; this is about politics.”
Cuomo initially praised President Donald Trump for his actions during COVID, including his sending the Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort to New York to care for patients, and then turned against him. Former New York Lieutenant Gov. Betsy McCaughey, an outspoken opponent of Cuomo’s COVID response, including the $5.1 million advance he received for writing a book about it, charges that he bowed to the requests of the hospital lobby, a top political contributor, which wanted the COVID patients out of their facilities. In order stifle kudos for Trump during the crisis, McCaughey argues, Cuomo declined to utilize the Navy ship or a massive COVID center set up by the federal government at the Javits Convention Center and instead, sent the patients to the nursing homes.
Marc Molinaro, a Republican representing a district south of the state Capitol, noted, “Today is an emotional day for so many. Four years ago, Gov. Cuomo mandated that COVID-19-positive seniors be forced into nursing homes. Instead of addressing it, he covered it up. Actions should have consequences. Those responsible for the deadly mandate and cover-up must be held to account.”
Speaking at the anniversary event, the leader of the state Assembly Republicans, Will Barclay, agreed: “Four years of unanswered questions, four years of families grieving, four years of zero transparency. Gov. Kathy Hochul promised families an independent review of the state’s policies during the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic; New York families are still awaiting that review. The state’s approach to the pandemic was severely mishandled, and we will continue to fight until proper action is taken. We must seek to learn from the mistakes of the past, or I fear, we will be doomed to repeat them in the future.”
The leader of the state Senate Republicans, Rob Ortt, concluded: “The best way to ensure New York is better prepared in the future, is to openly and honestly assess the mistakes of the past. Thousands of families continue to mourn the loss of their loved ones in nursing homes due to the disastrous March 25th directive from former Gov. Cuomo. They deserve the thorough, transparent investigation that was promised, not more inaction from their state government.”