NY nursing homes avoided like plague

The pandemic that took the lives of more than 6,000 New York nursing-home residents has now left the facilities with scores of empty beds, data obtained by The Post reveals.

Reports provided to the Centers for Disease Control show that occupancy rates at 146 of the state’s nursing homes and rehabilitation facilities plummeted by more than 20 percent since the end of last year — with most of the soaring vacancies occurring in the New York City area.

Some facilities reported occupancy rates had tumbled by more than 40 percent or 50 percent through the first week of June, according to figures filed with the CDC last month.

Overall, the census of patients for all of New York’s 600 nursing homes dropped by 13 percent, the seventh largest decrease in the country. New Jersey led the nation with a 22 percent drop in nursing-home residents.

Coronavirus deaths, though, are only one reason for the empty beds.

New York has reported more than 6,300 COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes. Gov. Cuomo has come under fire for a March 25 order that required nursing homes to admit or readmit COVID-19 patients, which critics charge contributed to those deaths.

“Battered by the perfect storm of COVID deaths, a dramatic reduction in patients released from hospitals and surgicenters, and a pervasive impression that nursing homes residents cannot see their families, census within New York’s longterm-care facilities are at all-time lows,” said Michael Balboni, executive director of the Greater NY Health Care Facilities Association.

Nursing homes that The Post previously reported had a high number of COVID deaths were among the facilities reporting a huge drop in occupancy. Among them:

The Cobble Hill Health Center in Brooklyn reported a 65 percent occupancy rate — a drop of 34 percent since last December. The facility reported 56 deaths, six confirmed, linked to COVID-19, according to state Health Department data.

The Isabella Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Washington Heights, which reported 66 presumed or confirmed COVID-19 deaths, saw a 29 percent reduction in residents.

The King David Center in Brooklyn’s Gravesend, with 34 confirmed or suspected viral deaths, saw a 27 percent drop in residents.

The Sapphire Center in Flushing, Queens, with 55 confirmed or presumed deaths, saw its resident census fall by 34 percent.

Battered by the perfect storm of COVID deaths [and other factors] . . . census within New York’s long-term-care facilities are at all-time lows.

— Michael Balboni (left)