Rep. Rodney Wakeman of Saginaw Township this week helped introduce a House resolution opposing the governor’s nursing home policies, which have put the lives of Michigan seniors in danger during the COVID-19 era.

Gov. Whitmer has continued with a plan that places COVID-19 patients into long-term care facilities – putting individuals who have tested positive under the same roof as healthy residents. Other states that had implemented the same strategy quickly released the mistake and have since reversed course, but Michigan has not.

“Well before COVID-19 made its way into Michigan, health experts warned seniors – especially those with underlying health conditions – were at a higher risk for severe illness” Wakeman said. “The governor knew this, yet she felt it was necessary to implement a misguided nursing home policy that brought COVID-19 into long-term care facilities. These are grandparents, mothers and fathers, spouses and siblings. They’re not expendable. They need to be protected from this fatal policy.”

Senior citizens, especially those in nursing homes, are particularly vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus. Reports indicate roughly 25 percent of Michigan’s COVID-19 deaths – about 1,600 people – have been nursing home residents.

Nursing homes without dedicated spaces to isolate and tend to COVID-19 patients are required to send them to regional hubs – a separate nursing home, which has been approved by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. A May 20 executive order requires the hubs to accept patients.

“I find it unconscionable that nursing homes were required to accept COVID-19 patients at the same time working diligently to help keep patients safe by not allowing visitors into the facility – even family members” Wakeman added. “This policy contradicts all reasonable safety measures. Imagine if your loved one was in one of these nursing homes, and worse yet, became one of the victims of COVID-19 due to this action. Michigan residents deserve better.”

Wakeman and his House colleagues continue to call for the administration to release more information related to this policy, which the governor has acknowledged is flawed.

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