Members of a Republican-led congressional panel investigating COVID-19 recently met with relatives of New York nursing home residents who died during the pandemic shutdown, as the panel prepares to grill former Governor Andrew Cuomo on his handling of the crisis. The committee received a detailed 121-page timeline from Peter Arbeeny, whose father Norman passed away due to an infection after being released from a Brooklyn nursing home.
The scathing document available at wecarewall.com claims that Cuomo and his administration’s decisions and alleged coverups contributed significantly to COVID-related deaths in nursing homes. This marks the first time Cuomo will be officially interviewed by congressional investigators, although it will take place behind closed doors as a transcribed interview.
In the preface of the timeline, Arbeeny states that Governor Cuomo’s $5.2 million book deal represents “the black cloud hovering over the New York Nursing Home Scandal and the driving force of corruption, greed, and betrayal at the highest level of State government.” The panel has also interviewed other families who lost loved ones to COVID-19 and state ethics officials involved in the controversy.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), was recently interviewed by the committee as well. House investigators are eager to obtain answers, transparency, and accountability for New Yorkers affected by Cuomo’s policies during the pandemic.
The panel has consulted with Bill Hammond, a senior fellow for health policy at the Empire Center for Public Policy, who released critical reports on the Cuomo administration’s actions in regard to nursing homes during the pandemic. State ethics officials tasked with reviewing the controversial book deal were also consulted by the panel.
Cuomo, who resigned as governor amid numerous sexual harassment and misconduct accusations he denies, is looking forward to defending his management of the once-in-a-century pandemic. Cuomo’s spokesman Richard Azzopardi emphasizes that the Department of Justice and various state entities have investigated this issue multiple times, finding no evidence of wrongdoing by the administration.
Azzopardi also refutes claims that the administration’s March 25 directive telling nursing homes to admit or readmit COVID positive patients from hospitals caused Arbreeny’s father’s death. He maintains that this guidance did not play a role in Norman Arbeeny’s passing, and that New York was one of only eight states to include presumed nursing home deaths from COVID in its daily tally, which significantly increased the state’s nursing home death numbers.
The Cuomo administration’s memo on admitting positive COVID-19 patients discharged from hospitals was based on guidance from federal health officials, and Azzopardi asserts that it was not responsible for any increase in deaths at nursing homes. He also notes that the federal government prohibited COVID patients from being treated on the USS Comfort ship, which was docked off the coast of New York City during the early stages of the pandemic.
Despite these claims by Cuomo’s representatives, the congressional panel continues to seek answers and accountability for the actions taken during the COVID-19 crisis in New York nursing homes. The upcoming interview with Cuomo is expected to delve into these contentious issues further and shed light on the decision-making process that led to numerous deaths among vulnerable elderly populations during the pandemic.
