Gov. Whitmer’s nursing home policy led to Michigan’s most vulnerable seniors being exposed to COVID-19 in a number of facilities.
July 22, 2020
Michigan Legislature Passes Bill To Protect Seniors In Nursing Homes; Gov. Whitmer Must Decide If She Will Sign
The Michigan House of Representatives passed SB 956 today, a bill to prohibit admittance of COVID-19 positive patients to nursing homes from another facility and develop centralized intake facilities. Governor Gretchen Whitmer will need to decide if she will sign or veto the bill that had support from both sides of the aisle – including 17 Democrats who joined Republicans in passing the bill 74-34.
Gov. Whitmer’s nursing home policy led to Michigan’s most vulnerable seniors being exposed to COVID-19 in a number of facilities. Nursing home residents immediately deserve a plan to keep them safe and we applaud the Michigan House and Senate for stepping up to change this policy and encourage Whitmer to sign the bill. – Tori Sachs, executive director of Michigan Rising Action
Several Michigan editorial boards have criticized Whitmer’s nursing home policy. The Traverse City Record-Eagle Editorial Board has called Whitmer’s nursing home policy “inadequate” saying “our state public health experts paid a premium to place people infected with a wildly communicable disease in close proximity to the people most likely to be killed if they become infected.”
The Detroit News Editorial Board wrote, “Citizens deserve to know whether some of those deaths might have been avoided had the governor responded better to evidence of the unfolding devastation.”