ALBANY, N.Y. — Dan Mathias' mother Doris was living in a Buffalo nursing home in May of 2020 when she contracted COVID-19 and died alone in a hospital.
She was among the thousands of nursing home patients across the state who advocates say, were victims not only of the virus, but also of an Executive Order signed by former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
It required nursing homes to take in patients who were already infected with COVID, likely causing it to spread among that vulnerable population like wildfire.
Mathias joined other family members from across the state who lost loved ones in nursing homes, and a group of state lawmakers, to rally in Albany Wednesday for what they call the "We Care Remembrance Day."
It's the two-year anniversary of the date Cuomo signed that Executive Order.
Mathias shared his family’s story with the group of advocates and the media Wednesday, asking some rhetorical questions.
"Where is their investigation? Did they die in vain? Does their passing matter?" he asked.
New York State Senator Jim Tedisco, a Republican from Glenville, NY, was among the bipartisan group of lawmakers present.
"We are not going to leave these lost loves ones behind. This was a terrible tragedy -- historic in nature," he said emphatically.
"This wasn't just an Executive Order. It was a declaration of ‘eldercide’ in the state of New York," added NYS Assemblyman Ron Kim, a Democrat from Queens.
Two democratic state officials have already done investigations. New York Attorney General Letitia James found the Cuomo administration drastically under-counted thousands of deaths in the early part of the pandemic. We now know nearly 16,000 New York nursing home residents died from COVID.
And state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli just release his report last week. He was in Buffalo to share its results.
“I think what was most troubling about it, is that even when the department (New York State Department of Health) had corrected the numbers, that information didn't get out to the public. So there was clearly an effort to mislead the public about the realities of the situation," he said.
NYS Senator Sue Serino, a Republican representing the 41st District, is a co-sponsor of proposed legislation calling for a full and complete state investigation of COVID-related nursing home deaths.
"We don't ever want any other families to go through this again. It's horrible," she said.
Serino is among a bipartisan group of lawmakers who say more investigations are needed.
"Anytime there's a tragedy -- whatever it might be -- there's an investigation that happens so you can find out what went wrong so you know what to do the next time," she said.
Dan Mathias echoed her request for a full and complete investigation into what contributed to the nursing home covid-related deaths.
"I'm asking my fellow Buffalonian, Gov. Kathy Hochul, to put the full weight of her office behind an investigation. When we have this investigation, and identify how we can do better, we truly will have a Remembrance Day for these victims," he added.
Republican state Senators Jim Tedisco, Sue Serino and Rob Ortt are co-sponsoring legislation that establishes March 25 as the annual "We Care Remembrance Day" -- a day set aside to for solemn reflection, in honor of all the souls who lost their lives in nursing homes and long-term care facilities during the pandemic.