Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) vetoed a bill that would have required coronavirus patients to be placed into separate, COVID-only facilities and not nursing homes.
State lawmakers passed the legislation (S.B. 956) in late July. Prompting passage was the large number of COVID-19 deaths in Michigan’s nursing homes. Michigan is among the top states with resident deaths, with nearly 1,600, as of early August.
Whitmer told state senators in a letter that the bill is based on the “false premise that isolation units created within existing facilities are somehow insufficient to protect seniors.”
“Instead of protecting seniors, this bill would require the state to create COVID-19-only facilities, forcing hospitals and many nursing homes to send COVID-19-positive patients to such facilities without any requirement for consent, doctor approval or notification to the patient or their family,” she wrote.
She added that the legislation also failed to explain how the facilities would be staffed and paid, or how residents would be protected during transfers to other facilities.
From the September 2020 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
