The state Health Department has revealed additional detail about coronavirus deaths in New York nursing homes, showing for the first time how many residents of each home died of COVID-19 outside of the facility, typically in a hospital.
The new disclosures represent a small fraction of what a court ordered the department to release under a Freedom of Information request by the Empire Center.
A report dated Feb. 4, posted on Saturday, shows a total of 13,163 nursing home residents have died during the pandemic, of which 4,067, or 31 percent, passed away outside the facilities.
The Cuomo administration had previously omitted hospital deaths from its reporting on nursing home data, a practice used by no other state.
On Jan. 28, Health Commissioner Howard Zucker revealed that 3,829 residents had died in hospitals as of Jan. 19. That acknowledgement came after a report on the pandemic in nursing homes from the office of Attorney General Letitia James faulted the Health Department for under-reporting the death toll.
Last week, a state Supreme Court justice ordered the department to fulfill a Freedom of Information request filed by the Empire Center seeking comprehensive data on nursing home deaths during the pandemic. The order gave the department five business days to comply, and it has not yet formally contacted the Empire Center.
The details released Saturday represent a tiny fraction of what the Empire Center requested. The department has now posted facility-level totals for a single day—Feb. 4—whereas the center requested facility-level numbers for each day of the pandemic.
The additional detail is necessary to assess the impact of specific events and policies, such the Health Department’s much-debated March 25 guidance memo—which for several weeks compelled nursing homes to admit patients who were coronavirus positive, and which many critics have blamed for contributing to the high death toll among residents.
Saturday’s report also took the form of a PDF file, which is difficult to use for statistical analysis. The Empire Center’s request specified that the data should be provided in spreadsheet format.
About the Author
You may also like
State Delays Disclosing Emails About $1B Home Health Contract
For a third time the state Health Department has postponed releasing records related to a disputed $1 billion Medicaid contract, saying it needs another six weeks or more to locate and redact the materials in question. Read More
Budget Update Paints Less Alarming Picture of Federal Health Cuts
A new fiscal report from the state Budget Division suggests federal funding cuts will hit New York's health-care budget less severely than officials have previously warned.
A relea Read More
DOH Ducks a Simple Question on Covid in Nursing Homes
Five years after the coronavirus pandemic, the state Department of Health is pleading ignorance about one of its most hotly debated policy choices of the crisis – a directive that sent thousands of infected patients into Read More
In the Fight Over ACA Tax Credits, the Stakes Are Lowest for New York
As Washington skirmishes over the future of enhanced tax credits under the Affordable Care Act, New York has relatively little to gain or lose.
The number of New Yorkers using any A Read More
New York’s Immigrant Health Coverage Becomes a National Flash Point
A little-noticed New York program that provides Medicaid coverage to elderly undocumented immigrants was thrust onto the national stage this week as the White House sparred with congressional Democrats over the federal gove Read More
Why New York’s Health Premiums Keep Going Up
New Yorkers continue to face some of the costliest health premiums in the U.S., and the insurance industry's recently finalized rate applications shed light on why that is.
In summa Read More
How Immigrants Became a Cash Cow for New York’s Essential Plan
The Hochul administration's move to shrink the Essential Plan in response to federal budget cuts has exposed a surprising reality:
For the past decade, immigrants have been a cash c Read More
Hochul’s $17B Medicaid Surge Leaves Little to Brag About
Governor Hochul has made Medicaid her dominant budget priority over the past four years, increasing the state's annual share of the program by $17 billion – which is more new money than she allocated for every other part Read More