Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) will testify before Congress regarding his COVID-19 policies for nursing homes.
A press release from the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic says the testimony will center on Cuomo’s “issuance of unscientific guidance that forced New York nursing homes and long-term care facilities to admit COVID-19 positive patients.”
Committee Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) said Cuomo “owes answers to the 15,000 families who lost loved ones in New York’s nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“On September 10, Americans will have the opportunity to hear directly from the former governor about New York’s potentially fatal nursing home policies. During closed-door testimony, Mr. Cuomo was shockingly callous when pressed to explain discrepancies in nursing home death counts, repeatedly deflected responsibility for the nursing home directive, and most egregiously, showed little remorse for the thousands of lives lost,” he said.
“A true leader owns up to his mistakes and takes responsibility for wrongdoing. That is not what we saw from Mr. Cuomo during his term as governor nor during his transcribed interview. We hope that during his public hearing next week, Mr. Cuomo will stop dodging accountability and honestly answer the American people.”
In 2020, Cuomo’s office issued an order that required New York nursing homes to accept patients testing positive for COVID-19.
“No resident shall be denied re-admission or admission to the NH solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19,” the mandate reads. “NHs are prohibited from requiring a hospitalized resident who is determined medically stable to be tested for COVID-19 prior to admission or readmission.”
