Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has been heavily criticized for her excessive restrictions and repeated power grabs, and rightfully so. (Granted, her response to the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t been all bad — as I wrote, she was wise to exempt places of worship from her shelter-in-place orders.) But one policy that deserves more attention due to its immediate and devastating costs is Whitmer’s executive order requiring nursing homes to accept COVID-19 patients.

On April 15, Whitmer signed an order mandating that nursing homes and other long-term care facilities accept COVID-19 patients from nearby hospitals. If a nursing home’s occupancy is at 80% or more of its capacity, it must refer coronavirus patients to a “regional hub” or another long-term care facility with additional rooms and resources.