BUFFALO, N.Y. — Governor Andrew Cuomo does not think an investigation, of any sort, is warranted into the state's handling of data into nursing home deaths.
This as the governor and his administration continue to face criticism in the reporting of nursing home deaths.
"There is nothing to investigate," Cuomo said, during a news briefing, arguing that there's been no wrongdoing in the state's handling of nursing home data. The governor and his administration have been heavily criticized on what the true numbers are. First it was the State Attorney General's report last month saying the state published nursing home data that may have undercounted nursing home deaths by 50 percent.
And, recorded comments months ago, from a top aid to the governor, Melissa DeRosa, that could indicate some hedging on reporting nursing home data to lawmakers and the Department of Justice.
"Total death counts were always accurate, nothing was hidden from anyone but we did create the void and that created pain, and I feel very badly about that," Cuomo said.
That void the governor is talking about – not providing timely information to the media and the public on nursing homes earlier in the pandemic, which he admits led to misinformation.
"In retrospect, should we have given more priority for fulfilling information requests in my opinion, yes," Cuomo said.
The governor spent some time addressing misinformation on nursing homes.
"Well, we made the nursing homes take these people, no we didn’t, the nursing home had to say by law that they were in a position to deal with it," he said.
The governor reiterated Monday that the state has always fully and publicly reported all COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes and hospitals. Cuomo also repeated the timeline the state sent out last week on how the state responded to inquiries from the federal government and the state Legislature on nursing home deaths.
And that, during the first wave, the state was particularly concerned about hospital capacity.
"Everyone was busy, everybody was here everyday, we’re in the midst of managing a pandemic. There was a delay in providing the press and the public all that additional information," Cuomo said.
And there's some back-and-forth between the governor and Democrats in the Assembly, particularly Speaker Carl Heastie, over knowledge of a federal inquiry into the state's response to nursing homes.
A spokesperson for the Speaker said in a statement:
"There was a formal request from Assembly committee chairs and other members to the Department of Health asking for more information on follow up questions in regards to data on nursing homes. The governor's office communicated to staff that they needed more time to provide the information. Other than what was reported in the news, the Speaker had no knowledge of an official Department of Justice inquiry."
Here's the governor responding to that on Monday.
"Both houses were told state legislators are wrong, both houses were told that we had the DOJ request and we were going to give precedent over a DOJ request, they were both told," Cuomo said.
State lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats have been critical of the state's handling of nursing home data. Senator Sean Ryan, a Democrat has said more legislative oversight is needed with regards to the governor's emergency powers.
In a statement, the New York State Health Facilities Association and the New York State Center for Assisted Living said:
“Policymakers and legislators must stop the blame game, work in partnership with nursing home providers and view long-term care as an investment not an expense. Nursing homes are highly regulated providers that are essential in ensuring critical care to the State’s most vulnerable residents.”
State Senator Rob Ortt said in a statement:
“The governor’s major excuse for the failure of his Administration to provide accurate, timely information to the public was, 'We were busy.' This is a pathetic response coming from a man who had the time to publish and promote a book about his pandemic response while New Yorkers clamored for the truth.”
