After Failing To Protect Seniors From COVID-19, Gov. Whitmer Reverses Course on Nursing Home Policy

This sudden change in policy highlights the missteps by the Whitmer administration in their attempt to keep our most vulnerable population safe.

October 1, 2020

Last night, Governor Gretchen Whitmer reversed course on one of her most heavily criticized policies aimed to protect senior citizens in nursing homes from COVID-19. The Whitmer Administration knew for months that nursing homes were the top COVID outbreak locations and they failed to take lifesaving & common sense action. ‬

Five months ago, Governor Whitmer announced a “regional hub” policy which drew criticism from Democratic State Rep. Leslie Love who said it was “a mistake to put COVID-19 positive seniors in the same facility as others.” By waiting five months to alter the policy, Whitmer and her administration have put countless lives at risk. In the meantime, she also vetoed legislation that would have put COVID-positive elderly patients into entirely separate facilities. 

Detroit News: “The governor’s approach to the virus in nursing homes has been the subject of heated debate in the Capitol for months. About 32% of Michigan’s 6,762 COVID-19 deaths have been nursing home residents, according to state data.”

The lack of data and transparency from Governor Whitmer have been the focus of countless legislative oversight hearings and Michigan Rising Action has been calling attention to the failed nursing home policy for months. 

Detroit News: Op-ed: Whitmer should put politics aside and focus on Michigan

Whitmer has failed Michiganders by taking months to correct her nursing home policy, while keeping citizens in the dark by not providing any data or transparency during this unpredictable time. This sudden change in policy highlights the missteps by the Whitmer administration in their attempt to keep our most vulnerable population safe. – Tori Sachs, executive director of Michigan Rising Action