New York undercounted nursing home deaths by as much 50 percent, report finds

Cuomo’s office and the state Department of Health did not immediately respond to the AG’s findings, which were first reported by The New York Times.

The report from James, who until now has avoided such high-profile criticism of the Cuomo administration, creates new discord between the governor and one of the state’s most powerful elected officials. The governor has highlighted his leadership during the pandemic, which has killed more than 40,000 people in New York.

The AG’s report also found that nursing homes’ lack of compliance with an executive order requiring communication with family members caused avoidable pain and distress; insufficient personal protective equipment for nursing home staff put residents at increased risk of harm in some facilities; and insufficient Covid-19 testing for residents and staff in the early stages of the pandemic put residents at increased risk of harm.

The report says that preliminary data suggests that many nursing home residents died from Covid-19 after being transferred from their nursing homes to hospitals — deaths the state has not included in its published total nursing home death data. It also “reflects apparent underreporting to DOH by some nursing homes of resident deaths occurring in nursing homes.”

The AG’s office, which began investigating alleged Covid-19-related neglect at nursing homes in early March, is conducting ongoing investigations into more than 20 facilities.