Republican legislators in Michigan are moving forward with an investigation into Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s (D) nursing home policies throughout the coronavirus pandemic. They previously asked state Attorney General Dana Nessel to conduct an investigation, but she declined, saying there was no merits behind an investigation.
State Sen. Jim Runestad told FOX 2 that the House Oversight Committee’s hearings, lawsuits and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests have been blatantly ignored. Because of that, the committee is hiring a special prosecutor to conduct an investigation into Whitmer’s nursing home practices. The committee also plans to issue subpoenas in an effort to gain additional information on the accuracy of nursing home data, compliance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, and compliance with Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act.
“Just like New York, Michigan was one of five states whose executive orders forced nursing homes to take COVID-19-positive patients into the same facilities as our most vulnerable seniors,” the state senator said in a statement. “Grieving families deserve to know why this happened, how it was allowed to happen, and why the administration refuses to release nursing home COVID-19 data.
Throughout the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic, Whitmer followed the same protocols as Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee and New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo. All three ordered nursing homes to take in COVID-positive patients where otherwise healthy, elderly people resided. Runestad said, in some cases, “proper precautions” weren’t followed when nursing homes did take in patients infected with the virus.
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