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Coronavirus Is Decimating NYC Nursing Home Populations, State Data Shows
By
Jake Offenhartz
and
Gwynne Hogan
Published Apr 17, 2020
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John Minchillo/AP/Shutterstock
By
Jake Offenhartz
and
Gwynne Hogan
Published Apr 17, 2020
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Dozens of nursing homes across the five boroughs are now reporting double-digit deaths as a result of COVID-19, according to new data published by the New York State Department of Health on Friday.
The partial list of impacted nursing homes and adult care facilities makes clear the staggering toll of the virus on highly vulnerable residents living under one roof.
Inside the Cobble Hill Health Center in Brooklyn, at least 55 residents have died from the virus, the highest concentration in the state. The Kings Harbor Multicare Center in the Bronx has recorded 45 fatalities. Both the Franklin Center in Queens and the Carmel Richmond Nursing Home in Staten Island have each reported 44 deaths.
From the NY State Department of Health data released on April 17, 2020
Zach Gottehrer-Cohen / Gothamist & WNYC
"Every death is heartbreaking. These residents of our facilities are people who we know and love. This has been a surreal time in all of our lives," said Roy Goldberg, the medical director at the Kings Harbor Multicare Center. The facility, which has 720 beds, had been taking in overflow patients from local hospitals, he said.
The release of the list comes amid growing pressure from nursing home residents and their families, who have accused the state of intentionally downplaying the severity of the crisis inside nursing homes. Governor Andrew Cuomo previously declined to share the names of any facilities out of privacy concerns, before reversing his position this week.
Most affected nursing homes by total deaths, according to the NYS DOH
Jake Dobkin
The release marks the state's first acknowledgment of the particularly lethal spread of the virus in certain facilities. But the data, which purports to include all facilities with at least five deaths as of April 15th, also appears to be largely incomplete.
Among the notable omissions are the Fairview Nursing Home in Queens, where medical staff say there have been dozens of deaths, and the Crown Heights Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Brooklyn, which reportedly lost at least fifteen residents to the virus as of this week.
A spokesperson for the Health Department did not immediately respond to Gothamist's inquiries about why the facilities were not named.
At least 2,722 people living in New York's nursing and assisted living facilities have died from COVID-19, roughly 20 percent of all fatalities statewide, according to statistics released by the state on Tuesday, the most recent day for which that data was available.
In addition to widespread shortages of staff and protective equipment, nursing home operators say residents are suffering due to the lack of available testing. Without the ability to confirm infections, many positive cases are going undiagnosed, allowing the virus to spread and leaving family members in the dark about their loved ones' cause of death.
The Health Department data notes that some nursing homes provided presumed COVID-19 deaths, while others only included cases confirmed in a lab.
"We know there is not universal testing of residents, and that limits the precision of these findings, said Susan Dooha, the executive director at the Center for Independence of the Disabled in New York. "It raises further questions that family members and the public really need to know."
In a press conference on Friday, Health Department Commissioner Howard Zucker said the state was working to address shortages of testing, staff, and personal protective equipment inside nursing homes. State officials also acknowledged that the newly-released data may not provide a complete picture of all impacted facilities.
“We only know what they tell us,” Cuomo said.
Tagged
COVID-19
nursing home
coronavirus
Cuomo
Jake Offenhartz
Jake Offenhartz is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gwynne Hogan
Gwynne Hogan is a former Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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