ASTORINO CALLS FOR INDEPENDENT NURSING HOME INVESTIGATION.
Says Harkham Needs to Break Silence.
Hudson Valley-Jul. 8...Former two-term Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino today demanded that an independent investigation be held to determine why more than 6,000 New York senior citizens have died of Covid-19 while in the care of New York nursing homes.
Mr. Astorino criticized the New York State Health Department for its “cursory” findings on the catastrophic death toll, and called on Hudson Valley State Senator Peter Harkham to “do his job for the hundreds of thousands of Hudson Valley residents who deserve real answers.”
“A state health department shouldn’t be able investigate its own deadly mistakes without rigorous questioning from representatives of those affected by them, but that’s exactly what’s going in Albany,” the former County Executive said. “Every administration needs to be held accountable for its actions, but this state legislature is unwilling to do that. Nursing homes were literally ordered by the state to accept Covid patients, with catastrophic consequences. Pete Harkham should be joining me - and some of his fellow Democrats - in calling for an independent analysis of what went wrong. God knows the families who lost loved ones deserve the truth — but he’s nowhere to be found. His silence is inexcusable.”
Mr. Astorino, who governed with a bipartisan coalition of legislators in Westchester, said government works best when checks and balances are in place.
“Neither a governor nor a county executive is a king,” he said. “Legislators have a responsibility to weigh in strongly with them; it’s how we get accountable government and optimal results. Sadly, we’re looking at a one-man show in Albany these days for partisan reasons, and that’s coming at the expense of all of us. An independent investigation over the nursing home scandal would be responsible public policy, and Mr. Harkham should be joining me in demanding one.”
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