NEWS
Page 4
March 18, 2021
Dutchess County officials respond to nursing home scandal Alex Wilson
I
Assistant news Editor
n the past month, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has found himself embroiled in controversy after evidence emerged that he allegedly misreported nursing home deaths across New York state. As Albany wades through these allegations, Dutchess County continues working to protect the nursing home residents that critics charge were endangered by Cuomo. Last month, the state Department of Health (DOH) updated Dutchess County’s tally of 96 nursing home deaths to include the deaths of residents who died outside of the facility. At that point, Dutchess County had a total of 155 nursing home-related COVID-19 deaths, 59 of which occurred outside of these facilities—usually in hospitals. As of March 3, the total number of nursing home deaths in the county had increased to 169. Among local leaders, a more deeply-seated frustration with the governor’s earlier COVID-19 policymaking underlies the recent anger concerning his incorrect reporting of nursing home coronavirus deaths. This frustration has been pointed towards Cuomo’s March directive to compel nursing homes to admit COVID-positive patients. While debates concerning this decision have taken center stage since it was announced last spring, more recent DOH reports indicate that the number of coronavirus patients admitted to nursing homes was over 40 percent higher than previously reported, at over 9,000. Although the intention of the policy was to move medically stable patients out of hospitals and ease pressure on overburdened medical facilities, some—including State Assemblymember Jonathan Jacobson (D)—saw it as an excessive risk for nursing homes.
Jacobson, whose district includes the City of Poughkeepsie, wrote to DOH Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker last April urging him to reverse the directive. In his letter, he wrote: “Nursing homes are simply not equipped to act as hospitals and should not be used as depositories for infected individuals. Instead, they should rehabilitate in a facility specifically designated for recovering COVID-19 patients and separate from any nursing homes or anywhere large populations of elderly residents are housed.” The Dutchess County Department of Behavioral & Community Health (DBCH) also expressed concern with the policy’s implementation, explaining via email that “Facilities like nursing homes and assisted living facilities are generally at higher risk of disease spread. Congregate living, staff issues (turnover, overworked, lack of training and assistance) and lack of support these facilities get from the State all increase the risk of spreading something like COVID-19.” With issues such as staffing shortages that the state failed to foresee or provide support for, DBCH says that ultimately, the policy was difficult to implement. As to whether the state, more broadly, has taken the appropriate steps to protect residents of nursing homes, leaders are in greater disagreement. Brendan Lawler (D), who represents Hyde Park in the Dutchess County Legislature, said in an interview that the state has recently taken the correct steps to protect these facilities, citing the priority that residents and staff receive for vaccinations, as well as increased availability of personal protective equipment. Jacobson said that the Democratic-led state legislature has taken “a great first step” to dealing with the problems in the nursing home system that the pandemic has revealed. This first step includes reforms
such as A.3922-A, which aims to create a task force to examine the toll that the pandemic has taken on long-term care facilities, and A.5846, which requires that adult care facilities include infection control in their quality assurance plans. Still, DBCH maintained that the state’s response was flawed, saying, “The lack of clear, consistent and concise guidance from the State has been problematic for nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Additionally, the State did not always communicate with the local health department regarding their visits or reviews of these state licensed facilities.” The department says that Dutchess County led the way for appropriate nursing home support, and that despite state objections, they demanded testing of the asymptomatic (the state later decided to require this testing statewide). Furthermore, they established a taskforce to assist nursing homes that consisted of personnel from DCBH, the Office of Aging and the Planning Department, while also supporting facilities attempting to receive state guidance, distributing PPE and assisting in the vaccination process. Despite this increased workload, Lawler explained that DCBH was forced to cope with a 15 percent reduction in staff after this year’s county budget slashed the department’s budget by over $2.5 million, roughly five percent of its annual appropriation. Lawler, who was a private citizen at the time of the budget’s passage, voiced his opposition to the measure. “Hopefully, with the funding from the American Rescue Plan we will be able to restore full funding to [DCBH] to provide the necessary resources to continue to fight the pandemic,” he said. While Dutchess County works towards the protection of its nursing home resi-
dents, the state continues to grapple with the political future of Cuomo, who—besides the fallout of the nursing home scandal—is also facing a growing number of sexual assault allegations. Amid this wave of allegations following close on the heels of the nursing home scandal, more members of the governor’s own party began to turn against him after NYS Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D) called for Cuomo’s resignation and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D) authorized the Assembly’s Judiciary Committee to begin an impeachment inquiry. Jacobson joined the growing bipartisan group of officials representing Dutchess County, including Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer (both D), Representatives Sean Patrick Maloney and Antonio Delgado (both D), NYS Senator Sue Serino (R) and Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro (R), who have called for the governor’s resignation. While clarifying his stance that the underreporting of nursing home deaths alone is not cause for Cuomo’s resignation, Lawler explained that “The governor’s handling of the scandal demonstrates a failure of leadership. There is no logical reason that the number of deaths in residential care facilities was not fully reported. The state legislature should further curtail the governor's emergency powers and make policy changes based on the results of the attorney general’s report when it is completed.” As of last m0nth, several of the county’s elder care facilities, such as Fiddlers Green Manor and Wingate at Beacon, had surpassed 20 COVID-19 deaths and The Pines at Poughkeepsie was nearing 30. With such high mortality rates at stake, officials seem to agree on one thing: There is a dire need for meaningful elder care safety solutions.
Vaccine Equity Coalition advocates for fair vaccine distribution
Continued from VACCINE on page 1 Americans make up 11.2 percent of the adult population, only 6.2 percent of vaccine recipients are African American. Only seven percent of vaccinated Dutchess County residents identify as Hispanic or Latino, compared to 11.2 percent of all adult residents. Disparities in vaccination rates are the result of a myriad of factors. On Feb. 26, the Vassar Community Care Team released a lecture focused on COVID-19 related racial health disparities. The event, which was co-sponsored by the ALANA Center, Student Growth and Engagement, Africana Studies department, Science Technology and Society department and the Transitions Program, included opening comments by Biology Professor Leroy Cooper followed by a presentation by Dr. Alexis Johnson, MD, MPH. Johnson works as an Emergency Department Physician at Westchester Medical Center and Mid-Hudson Regional Hospital. The lecture was moderated by Tiana Headley ’22 [Full Disclosure: Headley is a Senior Editor for the Miscellany News]. They described the factors that contribute to disparities in vaccine access, including geographical location, technological access, scheduling flexibility and financial resources. For example, in a vaccine registration system facing massive demand, individuals who lack technological knowledge or resources are vulnerable to slipping through the cracks. Cooper noted that residents without reliable internet access may
miss out on the opportunity to register for open vaccination appointments that are often filled quickly. Additionally, Johnson identified that people of color may be fearful of receiving the vaccine given the long history of medical abuse against minoritized communities. Johnson shared, “I do think that fear and caution is a big factor, from my own personal experience in my family, I know that that’s the case.” Cooper connected skepticism surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine with a general sense of misgiving towards the medical establishment. “A lot of it goes back to whole-sale distrust in the medical healthcare system, period, for African Americans,” said Cooper. Johnson and Cooper emphasized the disproportionate toll that the pandemic has taken on communities of color, as reflected in nationwide hospitalization and death rates. Although Black and Latino Americans are only slightly more likely to contract COVID than white Americans, larger racial disparities are seen in hospitalization and fatality rates. Compared to white Americans, Black, Hispanic and Latino Americans are approximately three times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 and are approximately twice as likely to die. Native Americans are nearly twice as likely to contract COVID-19 and nearly four times as likely to be hospitalized with the virus, compared with white Americans. The Vaccine Equity Coalition has already identified several starting points to address-
ing racial disparities in vaccine access. The coalition aims to create more pop-up vaccination sites that are geographically accessible to underserved communities. At a recent pop-up vaccination site at Beulah Baptist Church in Poughkeepsie, all 450 vaccination appointments were successfully filled. Additionally, the coalition
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will work to distribute materials provided by the Dutchess County Department of Behavioral & Community Health to address misinformation about the vaccine. “Focusing on hard-to-reach populations is critically important to the county, and we are committed to continuing this effort,” emphasized Molinaro.
Natalie Bober/The Miscellany News.
