Cuomo: ‘We made a mistake in creating the void’ of information on nursing home deaths When asked if he felt the need to personally apologize for any element of his handling of the situation, Cuomo said his team “should have prioritized providing more information.”
Cuomo: ‘Toxic political climate’ contributed to backlash over nursing home scandal “We created the void – I agree to that — and we didn’t constantly fight back against every rumor, every piece of misinformation,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo: NY state legislatures were ‘wrong’ when they say they weren’t informed about delay in data request “We gave precedence to the DOJ. We told the assembly that, we told the Senate that and that’s what we did. We were also in the midst of managing a pandemic,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo: “The truth is everyone did everything they could” “The last thing we wanted to do, the last thing I wanted to do, was to aggravate a terrible situation.”
Cuomo: Data requests on nursing home deaths ‘should have been prioritized’ Cuomo admits his administration should have fulfilled requests for data sooner. He maintains the data was never misreported. “The void we created misinformation and created more anxieties for the families of loved ones,” he said.
Cuomo calls for reform of “for-profit” nursing homes Governor wants immediate reforms for privately-owned nursing homes, describes “tension” in attempting to balance profit and patient care.
Cuomo again defends nursing home data reporting “To be clear, all the deaths in nursing homes and hospitals were fully, publicly and accurately reported,” Cuomo adds. Cuomo said there was a “delay” in releasing the data because his administration was busy managing pandemic response.
Cuomo on how COVID entered nursing homes Of 613 nursing homes, 365 received a person from the hospital. Cuomo says 98% of facilities already had COVID prior to accepting a hospital patient. “COVID did not get into the nursing homes from people coming from hospitals,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo attempts to clarify March 25 executive order Cuomo addresses controversial order calling on nursing home to accept recovering COVID-19 patients. Governor says there is “much distortion” related to the order. Notes the decision was based on CDC guidance. NY was one of at least 13 states who followed the guidance. Cuomo said patients were only discharged to facilities who acknowledged they could provide proper care. “The nursing home had to agree that they could care for this person. That is a matter of law,” Cuomo said. “They cannot accept a patient who they are not prepared to care fo
More on nursing home scandal Cuomo says NY is one of only nine states that reports “presumed fatalities” in nursing homes. Notes fatality rate is in NY nursing homes is lower than that of other states. “COVID preys on senior citizens, older people, weaker people,” Cuomo said. “We’ve always known that. That is a fact.”
Cuomo denies withholding relevant data in nursing home scandal “This past year, there is a toxic political environment and everything gets politicized,” Cuomo said. “There is political spin and then there are facts.” Cuomo said his administration paused the state legislature’s request for data on nursing home deaths while it fulfilled a similar request from the DOJ. Says admin gave DOJ request precedence and replied to it fully by August. Cuomo said NY “voluntarily complied” with DOJ requests and “paused” state request. “The New York State DOH has always fully and publicly reported all COVID deaths in nursing homes and hospitals,” Cuomo said. “They have always been fully reported.”
Cuomo on push to strip his emergency powers over nursing home scandal Cuomo asserts that the state legislature could have overruled any executive action he’s taken during the pandemic, but have yet to do so. “Emergency powers have nothing to do with nursing homes,” Cuomo said.