[ad_1]
Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday held a closed-door meeting with relatives of nursing home residents killed by COVID-19 — and apologized to them for the pain caused by her predecessor, Andrew Cuomo’s, handling of the crisis, The Post has learned.
The families, led by Assemblyman Ron Kim (D-Queens), presented the governor with a list of demands, including elder-care reforms and that the state own up for its controversial directive believed to have increased the death toll among nursing home residents.
“At the very top of the meeting, after we introduced ourselves, she (Hochul) leaned in pretty hard and opened up with an apology to the families about what they had to go through as a result of these policies,” Kim said.
“It was obviously a private apology, but I think it really touched the families. That’s something they’ve been asking for — to be treated decently as human beings.”
He added: “It was a genuine, empathetic moment that stood out to us.”
It was a stark change from the behavior of Cuomo’s lackeys, the lawmaker said.
“There wasn’t an inkling of dismissiveness or her saying that we don’t have the facts — as the previous governor used to be — there was no dismissiveness in her tone.”
The families and Kim, whose uncle died of suspected COVID-19 last year in a nursing home, had been requesting a sit-down with Hochul since she took over following Cuomo’s resignation in late August.
The roughly hour-long meeting on Tuesday afternoon took place at the governor’s Manhattan offices and was “very emotional” with “lots of crying going on,” Kim said.
Other attendees included Voices for Seniors founder Vivan Zayas, whose mother Ana Martinez died of COVID-19 in a nursing home, and Fox News meteorologist and elder-care advocate Janice Dean, who lost both her mo ther and father-in-law to the virus in March and April 2020, respectively.
“For the first time since we began or quest for accountability on behalf of our families that died from Covid in nursing homes last spring, we met today with @GovKathyHochul,” Dean wrote on Twitter. “It was a small step but an important one to get answers. It would not have happened without @rontkim.”
The group requested an announcement from the state that the Department of Health’s March 25, 2020 mandate that nursing homes admit coronavirus patients had “led to thousands of untimely and unnecessary deaths.”
Other demands included:
- That Hochul support a “bipartisan investigation with subpoena power into the nursing home crisis”;
- That she release all remaining nursing home data and pending Freedom of Information Law requests;
- That she direct the DOH to conduct a “re-audit” of all COVID-related nursing home deaths;
- Pass a bill creating a nursing home victims compensation fund;
- and that she dedicate a “nursing home victim memorial.”
“It was a good first meeting and they committed to continue to work with us on our requests,” Kim said, adding that governor’s staff also spoke with the group to discuss details of the requests following the face-to-face.
NYPD detective Haydee Pabey, 54, who lost her 72-year-old mother Elba Pabey to COVID-19 in a nursing home, was also at the meeting — and was thankful for Hochul’s apology.
“I was in tears, I was a mess — everybody just started crying,” Pabey recalled. “But the governor opened up the meeting very welcoming and warm. It felt good. She apologized for the pain that we have endured. She did say that they will do the best they can.”
“It was hitting a brick wall with the last administration,” Pabey added. “We had no answers and no one would get back to us.”
Peter Arbeeny, 55, the owner of an air conditioning business who lost his 89-year-old dad Norman Arbeeny to the virus, also appreciated the apology, but was more cautious.
“It was a good first step for a new governor,” he said. “I won’t know what it means yet until we see these promises turned into actions.”
Still, Arbeeny said, a top priority for him was seeing a re-audit of nursing home deaths, and he told The Post that Hochul had committed to getting it done. Shortly before she took office, Hochul had promised that her administration would be “very transparent” when it comes to releasing documents pertaining to COVID-19 nursing home deaths
Kim said the gov’s legislative director would also be working with the group on a memorial and compensation fund.
He noted that Hochul seemed inclined to get another meeting on the books once the new health commissioner, Mary Bassett, comes in, following the resignation of Cuomo appointee Howard Zucker.
Zucker was a key figure in the Cuomo administration, whose March 25, 2020 directive is blamed for putting many of the casualties of nursing homes in harm’s way by mandating that COVID-19 infected patients be sent back to nursing homes from hospitals.
He is also accused of helping Cuomo and his aides hide the pandemic’s true death toll across the state and in its nursing homes.
“One thing that is clear is as soon as the new commissioner of health comes in, she personally would like to participate in a follow up discussion,” Kim said.
“It’s important going forward that families have access, and an ability for them to shape policies that impact their families,” he added.
Hochul’s office did not immediately return The Post’s request for comment.
[ad_2]