NY Comptroller Finds State Needs to Do More to Address Nursing Home Pandemic Issues

The state Department of Health (DOH) has made limited progress in addressing the widespread failures identified in a March 2022 audit of the state’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak in nursing homes, according to a follow-up report released today by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. The initial audit found the state was unprepared to respond to infectious disease outbreaks at nursing homes, even before the pandemic, under the previous administration. Also, the state’s persistent underinvestment in public health over the past decade may have limited DOH’s ability to prepare and respond in the most effective way. If DOH had better data, accurate information systems, and an established system of proactive infection control for facilities prior to the pandemic, it could have helped facilities be better prepared. Auditors also determined that DOH gave the public inaccurate COVID-19 death tallies and undercounted those deaths as the Executive took control of public updates on the pandemic.

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