Casey report: Trump administration ignored warnings, had failed response to COVID-19 in nursing homes

Jul. 2--U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and two Democratic colleagues on Wednesday released a scathing report on the Trump administration's response to COVID-19 in nursing homes, saying it "failed to execute a coordinated strategy to adequately prepare and respond to the pandemic."

The 98-page report "COVID-19 in Nursing Homes: How the Trump Administration Failed Residents and Workers" comes as the virus is still sweeping through nursing homes in Pennsylvania and nationwide, and endangering the lives of the 1.3 million Americans living in the facilities as well as employees.

Casey, D-Scranton, Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., released a joint statement laying the blame for deadly COVID-19 outbreaks in nursing homes squarely on President Donald Trump's administration.

"Our report makes it clear that the Trump administration's deregulatory agenda, repeated failures to adequately prepare for the COVID-19 pandemic, and its delayed and disorganized response exacerbated, and, in some instances, contributed to a worsening public health crisis that has disproportionately affected the most vulnerable populations in the United States," they said.

"Today, seniors and people with disabilities living in nursing homes remain sequestered, scared and alone," the senators said. "And, overworked and underpaid nursing home workers continue to face life-and-death decisions without adequate protections and supplies."

Approximately 125,500 people who have died from COVID-19, more than 54,000, or more than 40 percent, have been nursing home residents or workers, according to the report.

Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center in Brighton Township has seen one of the largest COVID-19 outbreaks in the state among nursing homes with 332 residents and 109 workers testing positive and 73 residential deaths.

During a visit to Heritage Valley Beaver hospital in late May, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced that there was a federal investigation underway of Brighton Rehab, following calls for one by U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, D-17, Mount Lebanon.

The country's first COVID-19 outbreak in February at a nursing home in Washington state, one that ultimately claimed 37 lives, "should have served as an urgent warning" for the Trump administration, the report says.

"Tragically, this and other early warnings went unheeded," says the report's executive summary. "With insufficient access to diagnostic testing, missteps in procurement and distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE), and other failures in planning and execution detailed below, the Trump administration's deeply flawed pandemic response resulted in unnecessary deaths and forced nursing homes into lockdowns nationwide."

The report's finding include that the federal government did not track nursing home COVID-19 cases for more than four months, that it still does not plan to county every nursing home death or case and that it has not "timely or accessible data to the public" regarding nursing home outbreaks.

Also, the reports found that the Trump administration failed to ensure that nursing home workers had a reliable supply of PPE, and provided late and inadequate supplies of PPE to homes.

The Trump administration "prioritized nursing homes too late and distributed too little" emergency funding and recommended COVID-19 testing of nursing home residents, "but it did not address how facilities should procure additional tests or how the federal government would help facilities increase testing capacity."

Recommendations in the report include adequate data collection, provide the necessary funding for states and nursing home to fight COVID-19 outbreaks, provide PPE and testing, "elevate the workforce" through sufficient PPE, pay and benefits, and improve infection control and emergency management in nursing homes.

The statement said many of the report's recommendations are included in the Nursing Home COVID-19 Protection and Prevention Act, introduced by Casey, Peters and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., which would authorize $20 billion for states and nursing homes to combat the spread of COVID-19.

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