Matthew McDermott
More than four years after the eruption of the 2020 COVID pandemic, New Yorkers still have no reliable, independent assessment of how well their leaders responded.
Which is why state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is right that New York still needs an independent commission to review the state’s response.
In a recent Times Union op-ed, DiNapoli ripped a $4 million report by the Olson Group, which Gov. Hochul commissioned, as riddled with errors and inadequate in helping the state prepare for the next pandemic.
Without such a comprehensive report, it’s hard to hold anyone accountable for failures and to better prepare better for the next epidemic.
That’s a serious problem, because many of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s policies — particularly his order that nursing homes accept COVID-positive patients — appear to have been monumentally tragic mistakes.
“The Olson report failed to provide the rigorous, fact-based examination New York deserved, nor does it provide a roadmap for future improvement,” wrote DiNapoli.
The comptroller took issue with Olson’s reliance on inaccurate Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data related to nursing home deaths.
His criticism echoes that of the Empire Center’s Bill Hammond, who panned Hochul’s after-action review as falling “far short” of what Hochul promised — and what “the state urgently needs.”
The report left key questions unanswered, such as:
- What avoidable mistakes were made?
- What can be done to better prepare the state for the next outbreak?
- How can we protect the most vulnerable?
Most especially, the report failed to provide a true accounting of those who died in nursing homes and why.
By contrast, an independent review of New Jersey’s pandemic response in March provided valuable lessons, including for New York.
It found, for example, that — unlike in New York — health officials communicated the state’s nursing-home policies directly to the facilities’ operators and let them opt out if they thought it wouldn’t work.
They could also reverse course later if they realized they erred by opting in.
A statistical analysis performed by the Empire Center, a government watchdog group, found a significant correlation between the number of patient transfers under Cuomo’s policy and higher death rates in the nursing homes that accepted them in New York.
The Swiss-cheese-like Hochul report was a slap in the face to all New Yorkers, especially the families of the 83,000 New Yorkers who died during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was also a monumental waste of money.
Gov. Hochul had her chance to come clean about the Cuomo-Hochul team’s pandemic response.
Looks like she prefers a whitewash.
It’s time for the Legislature to establish an independent commission, with subpoena power, to provide the comprehensive accounting New Yorkers want and deserve.
And DiNapoli should demand a refund for the near-worthless Olson study.