Report: New York Admits Undercounting Nursing Home Deaths After 'Quietly Changing Reporting Rules'

New York quietly changed its reporting rules to omit deaths of nursing home residents who died at the hospital (or in ambulance, etc) from the list of nursing home deaths. Meaning if nursing home resident dies 10 mins after arriving at the hospital, it's not a nursing home death

— Peter J. Hasson (@peterjhasson) May 15, 2020

Of the nine states with the largest coronavirus outbreaks at long-term care facilities, New York is the only state that omits the deaths of nursing home residents who died at hospitals from its reporting -- as a direct result of that change.

— Peter J. Hasson (@peterjhasson) May 15, 2020

New York has omitted an unknown number of coronavirus deaths in recent reports regarding residents of nursing home and adult care facilities, the New York State Department of Health acknowledged in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

In early May, those reports quietly began omitting long-term care residents who died of coronavirus in hospitals. Even so, New York still leads the nation with 5,433 reported deaths at nursing homes and adult care facilities as of Wednesday.

The revelation comes as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo faces criticism for ordering nursing homes and other long-term care facilities to accept patients from hospitals who had tested positive for coronavirus. Cuomo rescinded the March 25 order, which experts say led to higher levels of death among nursing home residents, on May 11 to allow such facilities to wait until a coronavirus patient tests negative before readmitting them.

The NYSDOH confirmed to the DCNF that until around April 28, it was disclosing coronavirus deaths for all nursing home and adult care facility residents, regardless of whether the patient died at their long-term care facility or at a hospital.

But the department made a subtle change to its disclosures beginning around May 3, according to web archives. The NYSDOH told the DCNF its disclosure now only reports coronavirus deaths for long-term care patients that died while physically present at their facility.

New York's coronavirus tracker "currently does not include out of facility deaths," NYSDOH spokeswoman Jill Montag told the DCNF. "Deaths of nursing home and adult care facility residents that occurred at hospitals is accounted for in the overall fatality data on our COVID-19 tracker."

In other words, New York's nursing home and adult care facility coronavirus deaths tracker omits any individuals who contracted coronavirus while living at a long-term care facility but died in a hospital.

The mother of Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine @SecretaryLevine was moved out of a personal care home after Levine had ordered all nursing homes and long-term facilities in the state to accept coronavirus patients from hospitals.https://t.co/OftUGuxyYB

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) May 13, 2020

Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine's mother moved out of a personal care home with the health secretary's help, after Levine ordered all nursing homes and long-term facilities in the state to accept coronavirus patients from hospitals.

Levine admitted Tuesday to moving the 95-year-old Pennsylvania resident out of her personal care home, which is similar to an assisted living facility although technically distinct.

"My mother requested, and my sister and I as her children complied to move her to another location during the COVID-19 outbreak," Levine said. The health secretary's admission came after local station ABC27 found out about the move.

"My mother is 95 years old. She is very intelligent and more than competent to make her own decisions," said Levine, who in 2015 became the first transgender cabinet member in Pennsylvania’s state government.

The @NewYorkGOP House Members are calling for a federal investigation into this inexcusable tragedy. @GovernorPataki has publicly called for an investigation as well.

New Yorkers deserve answers and accountability! @brithume https://t.co/8HgS1zSYnl

— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) May 15, 2020