New York Undercounted Nursing Home Deaths by as Much 50 Percent

By Shannon Young, POLITICO

29 January 21

he New York attorney general on Thursday accused the state of drastically undercounting Covid-19 deaths in nursing homes, saying in a stinging new rebuke of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration that the official tally of about 8,500 may be off by as much as 50 percent.

A 76-page report, released Thursday morning by Attorney General Tish James, adds a new layer to the criticism the Democratic governor has faced over the state’s handling of Covid-19 in long-term care facilities — an issue that came to a head in recent days as state lawmakers pressed for the findings of a long-awaited inquiry into the deaths of nursing home residents.

The report, based on preliminary findings, suggests that a larger number of long-term care residents died from the virus than reflected in state Department of Health data and that government guidance requiring admission of Covid-19 patients into nursing homes may have put residents at increased risk of harm. The state has been accused of depressing the total number of deaths by only counting those that occurred in the facilities, leaving out any resident who was transferred to a hospital.

The issue has dogged Cuomo, seen as a national star for his public messaging during the early days of the pandemic, since last summer. His administration has gone to great lengths to claims it did nothing wrong.

A Department of Health report released in July refuted claims that a late March nursing home admission policy led to thousands of Covid-19 deaths at long-term care facilities, suggesting that coronavirus-related deaths in such facilities were largely driven by community spread from infected staff or visitors. Cuomo modified the hospital transfer policy in early May.

In a statement Thursday, the Democratic attorney general said her office’s report “seeks to offer transparency that the public deserves and to spur increased action to protect our most vulnerable residents.”

“Nursing homes residents and workers deserve to live and work in safe environments, and I will continue to work hard to safeguard this basic right during this precarious time,” James said.

Cuomo’s office and the state Department of Health did not immediately respond to the AG's findings, which were first reported by The New York Times.

The report from James, who until now has avoided such high-profile criticism of the Cuomo administration, creates new discord between the governor and one of the state’s most powerful elected officials. The governor has highlighted his leadership during the pandemic, which has killed more than 40,000 people in New York.

The AG’s report also found that nursing homes’ lack of compliance with an executive order requiring communication with family members caused avoidable pain and distress; insufficient personal protective equipment for nursing home staff put residents at increased risk of harm in some facilities; and insufficient Covid-19 testing for residents and staff in the early stages of the pandemic put residents at increased risk of harm.

The report says that preliminary data suggests that many nursing home residents died from Covid-19 after being transferred from their nursing homes to hospitals — deaths the state has not included in its published total nursing home death data. It also “reflects apparent underreporting to DOH by some nursing homes of resident deaths occurring in nursing homes.”

The AG’s office, which began investigating alleged Covid-19-related neglect at nursing homes in early March, is conducting ongoing investigations into more than 20 facilities.