Senate adopts resolution denouncing refusal to investigate nursing home deaths
The state Senate on Thursday adopted a resolution sponsored by Sen. Jim Runestad, R-White Lake Township, denouncing Attorney General Dana Nessel’s refusal to investigate Michigan’s COVID-19 nursing home policies and the reported data on deaths in nursing homes.
“Despite being warned early on by experts, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration’s executive orders clearly required that COVID19-infected patients be placed into the same facilities with those most vulnerable to the virus,” said Runestad.
“In fact, a violation of that order is a misdemeanor. The more we learn about this story, the worse it gets. For Attorney General Nessel to refuse to investigate is inexcusable.
“Both New York and Michigan made a mistake that put nursing home residents at risk. The difference is that while New York’s attorney general did the right thing and launched an investigation on behalf of the victims, our attorney general prefers to side with the politically powerful over our most vulnerable.”
Senate Resolution 31 encourages county prosecutors to pursue their own investigations. The resolution states, “We encourage county prosecutors to fill the gap left by the attorney general and pursue appropriate and reasonable investigations into the governor’s nursing home policy and the reported data on deaths in nursing homes.”
“We’ve heard story after story from families of loved ones. This is exactly why folks are so fed up with politics,” Runestad said. “Politicians and their cronies never take responsibility and are never held accountable. Those in power are more interested in playing politics than in standing up for the little guy.
“In New York, it took an investigation into their nursing home policies before 6,500 families discovered the truth about how their loved ones died. Michigan families need answers, too. When they want to
share their story, they need to be able to go to their county prosecutor. These families deserve to know the truth.
“The state’s top law enforcement officer has a responsibility to do the right thing and launch an investigation. But if the attorney general will not do her job, then someone else will.”
Runestad and another Oakland County senator, Ruth Johnson, R-Holly, were among eight Republicans in the Senate who asked Nessel to investigate.
Nessel, a Democrat, said the situation in Michigan is “completely different” from that in New York.
“I am aware that Gov. Whitmer’s office complied with the (Department of Justice) information request
and have no reason to doubt the accuracy of that response — much less suspect intentional misrepresentations within that response.”
Republicans have faulted the Democratic governor for letting recovering COVID-19 patients be admitted or readmitted to nursing homes from hospitals or other nursing homes, potentially putting other residents at risk.
The Whitmer administration has said her orders, which — among other things — required the creation of dedicated coronavirus units within certain nursing homes and established regional “hub” homes with COVID-19 wings, followed federal guidance.
Nessel said suggesting that public health policy decisions by themselves should be investigated because different approaches could have resulted in fewer
deaths is “inappropriate” and violates ethical guidelines.
“Though I will not hesitate to act when justified, I also will not abuse the investigatory powers of this department to launch a political attack on any state official, regardless of party or beliefs,” Nessel wrote in a letter to Runestad.
That statement prompted criticism on social media from Republicans, who contend her office’s prosecution of Republican former Gov. Rick Snyder and other ex-officials for Flint’s water crisis is politically motivated.
Last week, Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido became the first county official to take steps to clear the way for an investigation into the state’s nursing home policies.
Lucido, a Republican, is establishing a protocol for survivors of those who died in nursing homes from COVID-19
to file a criminal complaint against the state and Whitmer.
Whitmer said in a statement last week that Lucido’s comments were “shameful political attacks based in neither fact nor reality.”
“Our top priority from the start has been protecting Michiganders, especially seniors and our most vulnerable. The administration’s policies carefully tracked CDC guidance on nursing homes, and we prioritized testing of nursing home residents and staff to save lives.
“Early in the pandemic, the state acted swiftly to create a network of regional hubs with isolation units and adequate PPE to prevent the spread of COVID-19 within a facility. In addition, we have offered 100% of nursing home residents priority access to the vaccine. Both the former head of AARP, as well as
an independent U-M study, praised our work to save lives in nursing homes.”
Lucido, who took office in January, also asked Nessel and federal officials to investigate the nursing home deaths, but was rebuffed.
Lucido is meeting with Macomb County police agencies to instruct them on how to take a report of a nursing home death that could have been as a result of the state’s COVID-19 policy.
As a state senator last year, Lucido introduced a bill that would have prohibited the transfer of people who have COVID-19 into nursing homes and longterm care facilities. But Whitmer vetoed it July 31.
Lucido said at the time over 35% of the state’s COVID-19 deaths were nursing home patients.