Assemblymember Buttenschon dissatisfied with New York State COVID report on nursing homes By Luke Perry
The New York Department of Health recently released a report on the impact of COVID-19 on nursing homes, concluding that fatalities “were related to infected nursing home staff.” The report found that 25 percent of nursing home workers were infected with COVID.
The report “has good data,” Assemblymember Marianne Butteschon (District 119, D) told Talk of the Town (WUTQ in Utica), “but data that is not complete. We need further discussion.”
“We need to include all the stakeholders” in examining this issue, Buttenschon added, including county officials.
“Nursing home leadership and staff needs to be at the table,” Buttenschon said. “We need to hear from all of them.” Buttenschon believes this is crucial to effectively responding.
“Hearing we did not understand the disease early on is not something that is acceptable,” Buttenschon said. There has been decades of emergency management protocols in place to address this type of situation.
Buttenschon’s priority is determining “how we can prevent this from happening again.”
Photo from Assemblymember Buttenschon
In April, Buttenschon advocated with Deputy Minority Leader Joe Griffo (District 47, R) for more health protections in nursing homes. “The current policies are a recipe for disaster,” Buttenschon said at the time. Buttenschon warned that nursing home residents and employees would “be unnecessarily put at risk.”
Oneida County recently formed a nursing home task force. The task force will examine how to manage ongoing health and safety challenges during the pandemic, including permitting visitors, who have been prohibited since March, the use of P.P.E., and developing isolation wards.
“Everyone needs interaction,” said Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente, “including the residents.” The vast majority of the county’s COVID infections and fatalities have occurred in nursing homes.
Lenora D’Apice, Vice President of Development at Community Wellness Partners, who manages LuthernCare and Presbyterian Homes in Clinton, identified varied symptoms as a challenge. Some residents experienced symptoms when infected with COVID, while others did not, making it difficult to understand how the virus was being transmitted.
Photo from WKTV
LuthernCare recently reported 16 confirmed COVID cases among their 40 residents. The infected residents were transferred either to the Presbyterian Home or the local hospital, in an effort to help prevent the virus from spreading.
D’Apice emphasized their dedication to residents, irrespective of their health situation. “Because somebody was COVID positive doesn’t deter us from taking that person back into their home,” D’Apice said. “It’s not our home. That’s their home.”
D’Apice believes this put residents in potential jeopardy prior to having sufficient P.P.E. and testing, when hospitals were given priority. Now nursing homes are the priority.
Luke Perry (@PolSciLukePerry) is Professor of Government at Utica College
