The Democratic-led New York State Legislative Assembly on Friday released a package of about 20 nursing home accountability bills aimed at tightening restrictions on hundreds of for-profit facilities.
One of the 19 bills is sponsored by Assembly Health Speaker Dick Gottfried (D-Manhattan), which would prohibit the construction of any new for-profit homes and implement a moratorium that would expand the capacity of existing homes.
“Many people have come to know that there are huge problems in our nursing homes. COVID probably brought them to light and made them worse, but many of us know that these problems have been there for many, many years, ”Gottfried said Thursday during a hearing on health in the far-flung Joint Legislative Budget.
She raided against the for-profit industry in an interview with NY1 on Thursday evening, arguing that nursing homes often have higher infection rates and incidences of bed sores in patients.
“We are not going to license any over-profit nursing homes or profitable beds,” he said. “We should stop building profitable beds… you need [operate a nursing home] Not to take care of people because you want to make money. “
According to a January report by state Attorney General Letitia James’s office in January, the Empire State has about 401 of 619-owned, privately-owned nursing homes.
That report also found that more than 400 facilities, two-thirds or 280 of these elderly care facilities, have low federal ratings that correlate with adequate patient-to-staff ratios.
Other measures included in the proposal include family concern guidance guidance, infection control protocols and changing the state’s corporate immunity provision for hospital and nursing home administrators at the onset of an epidemic.
The assembly’s package comes several days after the state Senate passed a similar package of 10 bills, and the government announced its own proposal by Andrew Kyomo, which has laws governing long-term care facilities, to 13,586 Fatalities are tied to coriaviruses for deaths. The latest recorded data of the state on 25 February,
The Post specifically revealed that top gubernatorial aide Melissa DeRosa has come under fire in recent weeks after authorities withdrew virus-related death figures in nursing homes as she was under former Donald Trump There was a possibility of backlash from the federal government.
Since then, it has been revealed that the Eastern District of New York and the FBI have been investigating the state’s handling of the virus in long-term care facilities after reporting to The Post.
But representatives of the nursing home industry have taken issue with the methods of state lawmakers.
Jim Kline, CEO of LeadingEdge New York – an association that represents hundreds of nursing homes, adult care, and assisted living locations across the state – argues legislators are “completely missed.”
“The problem is not a lack of regulation, the point is a lack of financial support by the state,” he said, telling the Post during the COVID-19 epidemic, that the state directed Medicaid funding specifically to nursing homes.
Asked when the Legislative Assembly would proceed to move these bills to the floor of the Chamber, a spokesman for Speaker Carl Hetti (D-the-Bronx) did not provide a specific timeframe.
“The president and our members are all focused on improving the lives of New Yorkers and this includes ensuring that nursing homes are safe. We are working on many different issues to meet this goal.
“As Zakar said repeatedly during more than five hours of testimony yesterday, Gov. Cuomo will not sign a budget that does not include comprehensive reforms in the nursing home industry that include patient care at a profit, increased transparency, and the bad. Including associates is involved. Accountable, ”said Health Department spokesman Gary Holmes.
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