SE Grand Rapids News

Rep. Julie Calley (R-Portland) believes that Michigan needs to learn from the mistakes that led to high mortality rates in long-term care facilities during the first wave of COVID-19, as failing to do so will only put more lives in danger if a second wave hits this winter.

Calley was among several lawmakers on the Joint Select Committee on the COVID-19 Pandemic who recently heard testimony from the Michigan Nursing Homes COVID-19 Preparedness Task Force, which compiled a report on the high number of deaths in care facilities, which was submitted to the office of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, according to the Michigan House Republicans website.

Since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis in Michigan, the number of confirmed nursing home residents who have died while battling COVID-19 has been at least 2,000, according to Michigan House Republicans. That means that nearly a third of total deaths in the state have come from secure facilities and involved people who never leave those facilities, meaning the virus had to be brought into the facilities from outside.

Rep. Julie Calley | Michigan House Republicans

“Given that a large percentage of deaths have come from long-term care facilities and the fact that those in nursing homes are especially vulnerable to the virus, it is imperative to make sure these facilities are properly prepared,” Calley said, according to Michigan House Republicans. “Many were not prepared for the first wave we saw, and they could not turn patients away, despite their inadequacies. We can’t allow that to happen again as winter closes in and a second wave seems possible.”

In addition to criticisms of Whitmer’s policy that placed patients diagnosed with COVID-19 into nursing homes alongside healthy residents, the release also notes testimony from Dr. Betty Chu, cochair of the Michigan Nursing Homes COVID-19 Preparedness Task Force, who said that care facilities need improved access to personal protective equipment and supplies.