New York comptroller's audit: Cuomo, Health Department underreported COVID nursing home deaths

As the second anniversary of a controversial Cuomo Administration order nears, New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli released an audit Tuesday evening that determined the Department of Health was not properly prepared to help the state’s nursing homes mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

In a 58-page report, DiNapoli’s audit found that rather than give “accurate and reliable information” during the pandemic, the department instead molded its statements to match what former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other top executive chamber officials - including state Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker - were saying.

As such, DiNapoli said DOH presented data “in a manner that misled the public.” That included changing how it reported nursing home-related deaths with little or no explanation and failing to account for about 4,100 COVID-related deaths at nursing homes.

The audit also found that the department did not act quickly enough to a federal order to survey nusing homes for COVID infection issues. Just 20% of facilities were surveyed from March to May 2020. Other stated reported surveying up to 90 percent of facilities. In the homes surveyed, the audit found that nearly 70 percent of the more than 600 violations have no record showing they were corrected.

On March 25, just days after Cuomo and governors across the country ordered non-essential businesses to shut down and implemented other measures to control the spread of the virus, the DOH issued an order calling for nursing homes and long-term care facilities to take in COVID-19 patients.

The directive’s intent was to free up hospital beds as the number of cases rose. Within a couple weeks after the order, deaths in New York skyrocketed. The order was eventually rescinded less than two months later.

In a statement, DiNapoli said DOH needs to provide families with an accurate number of nursing home residents who died because of the coronavirus.

“Our audit findings are extremely troubling,” he said. “The public was misled by those at the highest level of state government through distortion and suppression of the facts when New Yorkers deserved the truth. The pandemic is not over, and I am hopeful the current administration will make changes to improve accountability and protect lives.”

Cuomo resigned last August after a scathing sexual harassment report issued by an independent investigation overseen by Attorney General Letitia James. However, his administration was also the target of other investigations that looked into its handling of the pandemic and, specifically, nursing home policies.

Moments after DiNapoli released the audit, James issued a statement noting that it corroborated what her office found last year when it investigated the Cuomo administration’s handling of nursing home policies and data. She also thanked DiNapoli for “bringing much-needed transparency” on the state’s handling of the pandemic.

“My office will continue to monitor nursing home conditions and ensure the safety of our most vulnerable residents,” she said.

In its response to the audit, the department disagreed with the comptroller’s claim that DOH officials did not fully cooperate with auditors. The department noted the 24-7 demands COVID-19 has placed on personnel. That includes dealing with spikes in cases due to the delta and omicron variants.

DOH said it asked DiNapoli’s office to hold off on an audit until after the pandemic subsided. It said that request was denied.

In response, DiNapoli said his auditors faced delays that were tied more to DOH officials unwilling to cooperate. He said auditors gave department leaders a summary of topics in advance that would be discussed at the meetings, and staff members made available either could not answer or did not offer the documentation auditors needed.

Not only does the audit’s release coincide with the second anniversary of the pandemic and the nursing home order. It also comes as Cuomo himself has re-emerged more than six months after his resignation.

He’s given public addresses, with another scheduled for Thursday in the Bronx. Cuomo also has hit the airwaves with commercials that have touted prosecutors’ unwillingness to pursue harassment charges against him as well as a newer one touting his record as governor.

It’s led to speculation that the former three-term governor, who has millions left in his campaign warchest, may choose to run for office again.

In a statement to The Center Square, Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi said that much of what DiNapoli reported came to light last year.

“As the number of out-of-facility deaths were reported last January, this is not news; however, what is peculiar is the Comptroller’s release of this audit now – but no one has ever accused him of being above politics,” Azzopardi said.