Politics

Whistleblower Says Cuomo Order Caused Threats Against Nursing Homes If They Rejected COVID-19 Patients

(Screenshot/Fox News)

David Krayden Ottawa Bureau Chief
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A Staten Island nursing home administrator said in an interview aired Thursday that hospitals “threatened” nursing homes if they resisted following Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s March 25 order, which demanded nursing homes accept COVID-19 infected patients.

WATCH:

“Many facilities were threatened by hospitals to take COVID-19 patients,” Michael Kraus told Fox News in an interview for “America Reports.”

“I never saw the exact emails but they were threatened that they would be reported for noncompliance,” Kraus continued.

“I think in our case, we … we were told, ‘Please don’t send us your sick patients.’ There were multiple hospitals that were threatening.”(RELATED: ‘Such Arrogance’: Democratic NYC Councillor Says Gov. Cuomo Has Done Nothing ‘Except Lie To People’)

Kraus said he made his objections known in conference calls with state health officials but that his warnings fell on deaf ears.

“I did vocalize it and then … once it was shot down I never spoke again. There are more important people than me who thought it was a good idea,” he said.

Kraus told Fox that he avoided direct compliance with Cuomo’s order by locking down his nursing home. “We would take back our own patients because that’s only fair. But to take on new cases I felt was unfair. So we shut down the entire operation.”

He said there were no new admissions at the nursing home for at least 10 weeks.

“That was my way of following the governor’s order,” the whistleblower said. Kraus said he thought the order was “ridiculous.”

“My position from the get-go was we can’t do it.”

The Daily Caller News Foundation reported May 15, 2020, that New York had hidden the number of people who had died of coronavirus in reports about nursing home deaths. The New York State Department of Health admitted the omission in a statement to the DCNF. (RELATED: Whistleblower Says His Objections To Cuomo’s Order For New York Nursing Homes Ignored, Silenced In Fox News Interview)

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during the daily media briefing at the Office of the Governor of the State of New York on July 23, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Jeenah Moon/Getty Images)

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during the daily media briefing at the Office of the Governor of the State of New York on July 23, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Jeenah Moon/Getty Images)

Cuomo’s advisers altered a report of nursing home deaths and those deaths likely exceeded 15,000 people, The Wall Street Journal reported

Cuomo is facing mounting criticism from both Democrats and Republicans in the New York state assembly who want to impeach the governor or force him to resign.