An open letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo
Governor, this letter is written with all due respect. You’ve been on my television for the last four months telling me what’s happening out there. You’ve allowed your humanity to shine at a time when an entire country is desperate to see humanity in its leaders, and I appreciate you so much for that. I want to thank you for how much better you’ve made everything for me during this virus crisis.
But there is so much more work to be done.
If it’s true what you’ve said during your briefings, that we must work together and emerge from this crisis better as a society, and I believe you are right, we must take a magnifying glass to the nursing home system in this state.
Governor, many of our sick and elderly are being treated horribly. It is an utter disgrace. The virus shined a spotlight on the atrocious conditions in many of these places, but the problem existed long before it arrived here (on a plane from Europe). If we don’t learn from the tragedy that unfolded in our nursing homes this year because of the virus, we should feel nothing but shame as individuals and as a society.
My late brother-in-law went through hell in the final weeks of his life back in February of this year because of this system. Had he not been rescued by family from the skilled nursing facility he was initially placed in, a disgusting, for-profit hell hole in Williamsville in Western New York, and rushed back to the hospital, he would have died alone in a corner. Literally. He was shoved into a dark corner and left there to die.
He was imminently terminal, completely immobile, and not a single staff member bothered to look at his medical chart in the 24+ hours he suffered there. They offered him no empathy or compassion. They couldn’t even be bothered to give a him a minimum amount of care.
That facility remains open today. It has not been reprimanded by the state in any way. So many in our elderly population continue to call that revolting place home and it breaks my heart.
This is not New York Loving.
My brother-in-law’s story is far from unique. From the stories I’ve heard from friends and strangers alike about the “care” given to their respective family members in similar places, his story is indeed the rule rather than the exception. And so is it any wonder why our elderly population was so devastated by this virus? Many of these places can’t or won’t manage a minimum of care on any given day. Add a deadly and contagious virus to the mix and of course the outcome was devastating.
New Yorkers have sacrificed so many things to help beat back this virus. We’re doing great work to re-imagine our police departments to try and heal decades of inequality and injustice, but how do we begin to feel any sense of pride about us as a society when our most vulnerable continue to be ignored, neglected, and abused?
I’m not an expert in these things, but I’ve come up with some ideas that seem like reasonable expectations for a state as great as New York.
New York State must:
Establish a task force to proactively investigate every skilled nursing and nursing home facility in New York, particularly the private, for-profit ones.
Deliver harsh and immediate financial penalties for any facility found to be in violation of its legal responsibilities, and make these known to the families of residents and the general public.
Send a notice of license revocation to any facility found to be in violation of its responsibilities. A 30-day grace period would be given to fully correct all violations, during which time the NYS Department of Health would take over care for all residents.
Immediately develop a plan for nursing home residents to be implemented in the event of a public health crisis where the elderly population is among the most vulnerable. This plan would include alternative housing for infected residents, transportation to housing sites, staffing of these sites, and obtaining the necessary PPE and other medical equipment for these sites.
Governor, I ask for your help in enacting these items, and I invite all New Yorkers to join me in asking you for them. Because I truly believe we are New York Tough, Smart, United, Disciplined, and Loving.
