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‘The good, the bad, the ugly’ — Hochul promises full study of NY’s COVID response
By
Jon Campbell
Published May 24, 2022
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By
Jon Campbell
Published May 24, 2022
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New York state will soon launch a top-to-bottom study of the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, analyzing everything from the state’s early nursing home policies to its decisions around remote learning, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Tuesday.
Hochul told reporters the state Department of Health will be bringing in outside consultants to perform a comprehensive review that will leave a “true record” of what happened as the coronavirus spread throughout the state.
The governor’s announcement comes as more than 71,000 state residents died of complications related to COVID-19, according to data compiled by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She declined to name the outside consultants the state is working with, but said her administration will make an announcement “in the near future” about who is leading the study.
“We have outside consultants that will be working with us to examine every aspect of the pandemic – the good, the bad, the ugly,” she said at an unrelated bill-signing event at the Capitol. “Because I have to be able to leave future governors what we learned.”
Hochul has faced pressure from advocates for nursing home residents to launch an extensive review of the state’s policies and their effect on New Yorkers — particularly after former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration spent months underselling the true death toll.
All told, more than 15,000 residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities died due to COVID-19 since the start of March 2020, according to the latest state Department of Health data.
But prior to Tuesday, Hochul’s administration made conflicting statements about whether such a review would happen.
In January, incoming Health Commissioner Mary Bassett told state lawmakers that she preferred to “look forward” rather than “unravel what had happened in the nursing homes under the previous commissioner.” At the time, advocates were pushing for a full review of a March 25, 2020 order from the Cuomo administration that prevented nursing homes from barring residents solely on the basis of a positive COVID test.
By Tuesday, Hochul made clear that she’s fully on board with a review of all the state’s actions – not just in regards to nursing homes and health care, but also child care, education and other sectors affected by the pandemic.
“I believe that history deserves to have a true record of what happened here,” she said. “And I want an outside look at it. My team and people who were involved at the time at the Department of Health will participate in providing information, but I really want an independent analysis of every aspect of what went on during the pandemic.”
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COVID-19
Kathy Hochul
nursing home
Jon Campbell
Jon Campbell covers the New York State Capitol for WNYC and Gothamist. Prior to that, he covered the Capitol for more than a decade for the USA TODAY Network. He has twice earned the Walter T. Brown Memorial Award, an honor given annually by the Legislative Correspondents Association alumni for outstanding state government coverage. Jon grew up in the Buffalo area and graduated from the University at Albany. Got a tip? Email Jon at [email protected] or Signal at JonCampbellNY.90.
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