If we're going to point fingers about deaths - let's look at these folks
I believe in fixing the problem, not fixing the blame. I also believe that when something goes wrong you look at the process not the people because if the process is right the people usually can't go wrong. A fair review of what happened during the Coronavirus spread will find process breakdowns and many lessons learned that can help prevent a future occurrence like this.
But the Democrats and their media mouthpieces don't want a fair review. They want to put all 80,000+ Coronavirus deaths at the doorstep of President Donald Trump. They best watch out if they start that game because it may backfire.
Now if there is one thing we know, it is that nursing homes are incubators for Coronavirus and a huge number of the Coronavirus deaths are occurring in nursing homes. So let's look at what is happening in some states across the US.
New York - Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Administration early on adopted a rule mandating that NY nursing homes must accept patients with Coronavirus who are discharged from a hospital. New York had access to the USS Comfort (1000 beds) and almost another 2500 beds in hospitals set up by the Army Corps of Engineers in the Javits Center and Central Park. But noooo, let's put the Coronavirus patients into the worst possible place - underfunded nursing homes where the most vulnerable population, our senior citizens live.
Gov. Cuomo objected to the criticism saying if the nursing home could not properly care for these patients they could refuse them. Of course, if they refuse the patients the State would investigate the nursing home to determine if it should still be licensed because refusing patients because you can't provide adequate care that's what happens. So is it any wonder that not nursing homes didn't decline these patients?
Gov. Cuomo, under heavy criticism for the many nursing home deaths that occurred in NY, rescinded this policy just recently.
Michigan - Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's Administration has adopted a policy similar to NY's. Whitmer's policy is that if a nursing home patient has Coronavirus, they have to stay in the same nursing home or they are transferred to a "regional hub" populated with seniors. Again let's put people with the disease that has the most severe effect on seniors into buildings that house only seniors.
Like NY, Michigan is not hurting for hospital beds and hospitals are much better equipped to care for vulnerable people suffering a disease they are extremely vulnerable to. But no, Gov. Whitmer thinks this is a great idea. The "regional hub" idea - if properly implemented - could be a good idea. It could be a facility like a hospital only for seniors with Coronavirus. Also, the Michigan Chief Medical Executive, Joneigh S. Khaldun, talked about identifying best practices from other States and implementing those in these regional hubs. The problem is, we don't yet know the best practices and we have not yet confirmed through testing treatment protocols that work on Coronavirus patients. So it may be a good idea in the future but it's not ready for prime time now.
And it's not just me saying that. Actually Gov. Whitmer's policy is such a bad idea that even a Democrat lawmaker from Detroit condemned the Whitmer Administration for this this week. We'll see if the policy changes.
Pennsylvania - Almost 70% of the deaths due to Coronavirus in PA are to residents of long term care facilities/nursing homes. On May 7, the Pennsylvania Senate discovered that the Administration of Governor Tom Wolf said they are continuing to "think" about testing more patients in nursing homes and distributing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to nursing homes.
Neighboring states Maryland and West Virginia have ordered all residents and staff of nursing homes to undergo testing. Pennsylvania is thinking about more testing.
On April 8, Governor Wolf signed an Executive Order allowing the State to "commandeer" PPE, but none of it is prioritized for nursing homes. On April 29, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that commercial laboratories have excess capacity available to perform testing in PA, but last week there was no plan to use that to help nursing homes where 70% of the PA deaths have occurred. The Secretary of Health said in public testimony that they'd think about it.
If the Democrats are looking for who to blame for so many people dying of Coronavirus in the US, they first need to look in a mirror and what they will see is not pretty. President Trump had nothing to do with the decisions of these three Governors to put their most vulnerable populations at serious risk, decisions that one could argue directly resulted in more deaths than need to have happened.
But the Democrats and their media mouthpieces don't want a fair review. They want to put all 80,000+ Coronavirus deaths at the doorstep of President Donald Trump. They best watch out if they start that game because it may backfire.
Now if there is one thing we know, it is that nursing homes are incubators for Coronavirus and a huge number of the Coronavirus deaths are occurring in nursing homes. So let's look at what is happening in some states across the US.
New York - Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Administration early on adopted a rule mandating that NY nursing homes must accept patients with Coronavirus who are discharged from a hospital. New York had access to the USS Comfort (1000 beds) and almost another 2500 beds in hospitals set up by the Army Corps of Engineers in the Javits Center and Central Park. But noooo, let's put the Coronavirus patients into the worst possible place - underfunded nursing homes where the most vulnerable population, our senior citizens live.
Gov. Cuomo objected to the criticism saying if the nursing home could not properly care for these patients they could refuse them. Of course, if they refuse the patients the State would investigate the nursing home to determine if it should still be licensed because refusing patients because you can't provide adequate care that's what happens. So is it any wonder that not nursing homes didn't decline these patients?
Gov. Cuomo, under heavy criticism for the many nursing home deaths that occurred in NY, rescinded this policy just recently.
Michigan - Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's Administration has adopted a policy similar to NY's. Whitmer's policy is that if a nursing home patient has Coronavirus, they have to stay in the same nursing home or they are transferred to a "regional hub" populated with seniors. Again let's put people with the disease that has the most severe effect on seniors into buildings that house only seniors.
Like NY, Michigan is not hurting for hospital beds and hospitals are much better equipped to care for vulnerable people suffering a disease they are extremely vulnerable to. But no, Gov. Whitmer thinks this is a great idea. The "regional hub" idea - if properly implemented - could be a good idea. It could be a facility like a hospital only for seniors with Coronavirus. Also, the Michigan Chief Medical Executive, Joneigh S. Khaldun, talked about identifying best practices from other States and implementing those in these regional hubs. The problem is, we don't yet know the best practices and we have not yet confirmed through testing treatment protocols that work on Coronavirus patients. So it may be a good idea in the future but it's not ready for prime time now.
And it's not just me saying that. Actually Gov. Whitmer's policy is such a bad idea that even a Democrat lawmaker from Detroit condemned the Whitmer Administration for this this week. We'll see if the policy changes.
Pennsylvania - Almost 70% of the deaths due to Coronavirus in PA are to residents of long term care facilities/nursing homes. On May 7, the Pennsylvania Senate discovered that the Administration of Governor Tom Wolf said they are continuing to "think" about testing more patients in nursing homes and distributing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to nursing homes.
Neighboring states Maryland and West Virginia have ordered all residents and staff of nursing homes to undergo testing. Pennsylvania is thinking about more testing.
On April 8, Governor Wolf signed an Executive Order allowing the State to "commandeer" PPE, but none of it is prioritized for nursing homes. On April 29, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that commercial laboratories have excess capacity available to perform testing in PA, but last week there was no plan to use that to help nursing homes where 70% of the PA deaths have occurred. The Secretary of Health said in public testimony that they'd think about it.
If the Democrats are looking for who to blame for so many people dying of Coronavirus in the US, they first need to look in a mirror and what they will see is not pretty. President Trump had nothing to do with the decisions of these three Governors to put their most vulnerable populations at serious risk, decisions that one could argue directly resulted in more deaths than need to have happened.
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