Legislator: Governor must put an end to reckless nursing home practice

State Rep. Douglas Wozniak, of Shelby Township, today put his full support behind a newly introduced House Resolution opposing policies which have put the lives of Michigan seniors in danger.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has continued on with a COVID-19 response 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, such as New York, have since reversed course.

One of the first revelations from the outbreak of COVID-19 across the country was that senior citizens, especially those in nursing homes, were especially vulnerable to the virus. Limited reports indicate roughly 25 percent of Michigan’s COVID-19 deaths have been nursing home residents, and more detailed information has not been made available.

“This is a reckless and dangerous practice that is putting a vulnerable population at risk,” Wozniak said. “It’s neither safe nor sensible. I call on the governor to find another way to address this issue. Otherwise, we will continue to needlessly lose more of our friends and relatives to a virus which has already claimed the lives of nearly 6,000 Michiganders.

“Worse yet, we don’t fully know the true scope of the loss because of a lack of transparency from Gov. Whitmer. The percentage of deaths attributed to nursing home residents could be even higher than the reports we’ve been able to get our hands on. The fact that we aren’t sure is a major problem.”

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.

More than half of these regional hubs are located in southeast Michigan, in areas that have been the most impacted by COVID-19.

On March 27, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report article following a deadly COVID-19 outbreak a month earlier at a nursing home in Washington. The article stated that “once (COVID-19) is introduced in a long-term care skilled nursing facility, rapid transmission can occur.” 

“It’s mid-June, and the governor is still choosing to ignore these facts,” Wozniak said.

HR 276, which Wozniak has co-sponsored, was referred to the House Health Policy Committee for consideration. Wozniak also supports Senate Bill 956, which prohibits the admittance of COVID-19 positive patients to nursing homes from another facility and develops centralized intake facilities.