Republican House Minority Whip Steve Scalise is pressing Democratic governors on requirements they set for nursing homes requiring them to readmit COVID-19 patients from hospitals, policies blamed for the high rates of deaths among residents.
“Just sent letters to the Democrat governors of NY, NJ, CA, PA, and MI demanding they explain why they ignored protocols and forced COVID-19 patients into nursing homes. The outcome was devastating. Families who lost loved ones deserve answers. This tragedy was avoidable,” tweeted Scalise, a Louisianian.
Nursing home deaths related to COVID-19 have reached 50,000, according to the Wall Street Journal. That’s about 42% of total COVID-19 deaths in the United States.
Scalise’s letter to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer stated that his office was “seeking information, at a granular level, about the science and information used to inform your decision to mandate nursing homes and long-term care facilities admit untested and contagious COVID-19 patients from hospitals. This decision likely contributed to the thousands of elderly deaths in Michigan.” Scalise made similar demands in all of the letters.
Whitmer issued an executive order on April 15 requiring nursing homes in Michigan to readmit all residents who had been hospitalized regardless of whether they had tested positive for the coronavirus. Whitmer has not yet rescinded that order.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued a similar order in March. He rescinded it in May.
