Whitmer’s administration is facing criticism from Democrats and Republicans on the state’s mishandling of nursing homes and assisted living facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
June 2, 2020
Gov. Whitmer Omits Her Failed Nursing Home Policy and Lack of Data During Testimony
During today’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer neglected to mention her continued failed nursing home policy.
Axios reported this morning that Michigan is one of three states who have yet to report nursing home and assisted living data in the country. Over the weekend, Bridge Michigan wrote: “The state’s continued inability to produce reliable numbers comes as advocates for the elderly call for greater transparency, and lawmakers amp up their rhetoric over the Whitmer administration’s handling of nursing home safety during the outbreak.”
Whitmer’s administration is facing criticism from Democrats and Republicans on the state’s mishandling of nursing homes and assisted living facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fox 2 Detroit reports a “new state bill would stop Gov. Whitmer’s housing of coronavirus patients at nursing homes” after Detroit Democrat Rep. Leslie Love stated that Michigan’s policy was the “most idiotic thing we could come up with.”
A day after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a third executive order (2020-95) on nursing homes, the Traverse City Record-Eagle Editorial Board wrote that Whitmer’s “COVID ‘hub’ system is a disaster waiting to happen.”
The Detroit News Editorial Board has wrote several Editorials on the topic:
- Whitmer order endangers nursing homes; end it now
- Michigan must release nursing home virus data
- State must do more to ensure safety of nursing homes
Tori Sachs, executive director of Michigan Rising Action discussed the failed nursing homes policy in an op-ed in Sunday’s Detroit News:
“Whitmer likes to say she is using “facts,” “science” and “data” to inform her decisions. How can we take that statement seriously when the state still doesn’t have data or a plan to keep the most vulnerable populations in Michigan safe?
The vulnerable residents living in nursing homes cannot afford to wait any longer for the Whitmer administration to enact new safety measures and a holistic plan to stop the spread of COVID-19 to the population who is most at risk of dying from the virus.