It is no secret that most of the nursing homes in the State of New York fail to obtain a high rating from the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services due to severe deficiencies in the level of care provided to elderly residents. Despite this longstanding failure of nursing homes in providing inadequate care to aging and at risk residents, Governor Cuomo ordered that Covid-19 patients be placed into nursing homes early in the pandemic. His justification for his order was that nursing homes should not be able to discriminate based on a coronavirus diagnosis.
Critics argue the Governor’s actions are now showing to be far more deadly than originally reported. It is disturbing that disturbing is that the true death toll data was hidden from the public. Recent investigations have revealed that some of Governor Cuomo’s top advisers influenced state health officials to keep actual death toll data out of a public report. It is estimated that the number of nursing home residents that died from Covid-19 in nursing homes in that time period was underreported by about 50%.
As the number of Covid cases remained widespread in New York in March and April, nursing homes were ordered by the Governor to take in patients who were positive for the deadly virus, placing thousands of nursing home residents at risk and increasing the death toll. There was no requirement that the nursing homes show they had the resources to adequately and safely care for these residents and protect other residents within the facility. So as systemic failures such as understaffing, inability to obtain improper PPE, and inadequate testing ability remained a concern higher risks were taken by placing Covid-19 patients in these facilities.
The investigation continues into how far reaching the implications the Governor’s actions were. If you have concerns about your rights or a loved one’s rightsfor a nursing home’s failure to follow minimum safety protocals or if you believe a nursing home lawsuit should be brought because of nursing home negligence, call the nursing home abuse attorneys at Feroletolaw for a confidential free consultation at 716 854 0700.
Attorney John Feroleto
Attorney John Feroleto understands the value of hard work. He is known in the community and by his peers for his willingness to work and go the extra mile. Other lawyers often ask John to handle their trial matters to maximize clients’ recovery. Trial lawyers know who the best trial lawyers are. He was also named Trial Attorney of the Year in 2012 by the Western New York Affiliate of New York State Trial Lawyers Association. [ Attorney Bio ]
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