“Everyone supports taking extra precautions to help protect
our vulnerable nursing home residents and most facilities have been very
diligent throughout this crisis in providing daily employee temperature
screenings and health assessments. The Governor’s Executive Order requiring
nursing home employees to be tested twice a week is good in concept, but
impossible for most facilities to execute without hands-on partnership from the
state,” said Senator George Borrello.
“I’ve spoken with several nursing home administrators in my
district who have spent the last week frantically making calls to try to
determine if accessing tests in such a large quantity is even possible. What
they have discovered is that it’s not. Even if the tests were available, these
homes do not have the financial resources to absorb such a massive, unanticipated
cost, particularly with the state’s recent cutbacks in Medicaid reimbursement
rates.”
He noted that if the Governor is truly committed to ensuring
twice-weekly testing of nursing home employees, then he should direct the
Department of Health (DOH) to provide these resources at no cost to the state’s
nursing homes, as that is the only practical way to achieve the goal.
Senator Borrello also pointed to the fact that the Cuomo
administration has come under criticism for policies that many believe hastened
the spread of COVID-19 in nursing homes, resulting in 5,300 deaths.
“Under the Governor’s leadership, the Department of Health
implemented COVID-19 related policies for our state’s nursing homes that were
misguided, at best. Now, nursing homes are being punished for those bad
decisions as the administration attempts to reverse course by instituting a
testing policy that is logistically impossible for most nursing homes. If the
state wants this to happen, they need to step up and provide nursing homes with
the tests.”
