Pennsylvania health official moved mother from nursing home as deaths skyrocketed

NY Post reports that Rachel Levine, PA state health official, ordered infected patients into Pennsylvania nursing homes, resulting in many deaths.

By Ben Feuerherd

May 13, 2020 | 12:59pm 

The health official responsible for overseeing nursing homes in Pennsylvania — where nearly 70 percent of the state’s coronavirus-related deaths have occurred — has reportedly moved her elderly mother out of a facility as deaths skyrocketed.

Health Secretary Dr. Rachel ­Levine said Tuesday that her 95-year-old mother requested to be moved out of a personal-care home, the ABC affiliate in Harrisburg ­reported.

“My mother requested, and my sister and I as her children complied, to move her to another location during the COVID-19 outbreak,” said Levine, ­according to ABC27.

“My mother is 95 years old. She is very intelligent and more than competent to make her own decisions,” Levine added.

After criticism from some state lawmakers for the move, Levine argued she’s working to ensure the health and safety of all state residents, according to the report.

In March, Levine ordered long-term care facilities in the state to continue to accept coronavirus patients who had been discharged from hospitals but un­able to return to their homes, the Bucks County Courier Times reported.

Of the state’s 3,806 coronavirus deaths, 2,611 had occurred in nursing homes and long-term-care ­facilities, according to ABC27.

The Pennsylvania attorney general has reportedly opened a criminal investigation of several ­facilities in the wake of the rising death toll.

“While we salute and appreciate nursing-home staff on the front lines during this pandemic, we will not tolerate those who mistreat our seniors and break the law,” state Attorney General Josh Shapiro told NBC News.

From the article on the New York Post.