Late Friday afternoon, the New York State Department of Health acknowledged its personnel has visited Newfane Rehabilitation and Health Care Center in northern Niagara County.
Agency spokesman Jeffrey Hammond release a two-sentence statement, “The Department of Health was onsite today at Newfane Rehabilitation and Health Care Center. As this is an ongoing investigation, we cannot comment further.”
Data from State Department of Health lists 19 residents at the nursing home have died from COVID-related illness. Those fatalities include 12 COVID-confirmed and another seven classified as “COVID-presumed deaths.”
Since Sunday, there have been 15 fatalities documented by State Department of Health data.
The facility on Friday issued a news release which reads in part, “All residents and staff have been tested for COVID 19. Our residents that have tested positive were immediately moved to a designated COVID unit within our facility away from the residents that are negative. The staff members that tested positive have been closely followed by the Health Department as required. We have consistent staffing assignments in place to protect the spread of the virus.”
The release does not mention the number of deaths at the nursing home or how many residents remain who’ve tested COVID-positive.
Earlier Friday, State Senator Robert Ortt called for immediate action at Newfane Rehab.
“There were lots of problems before this and I can’t help but feel that this pandemic has exposed a glaring shortfalls in our nursing home facilities,” Ortt said.
Ortt is among a number of State Senate Republicans calling for an independent investigation of nursing homes and the state government response to protect them from the pandemic.