Republican legislators accused Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration of failing to adequately prepare for the pandemic. “20/20 hindsight is a wonderful thing,” countered state health director Robert Gordon.
Michigan health officials announced that nursing homes may find ways to allow loved ones to meet with residents under certain conditions. The state also may soon approve a provision that allows family members to volunteer in homes.
A group appointed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer came back with 28 recommendations that sought to give residents more access to visitors and each other while maintaining safety measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The U.S. Department of Justice demands records from Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and other Democratic governors who "issued orders which may have resulted in the deaths of thousands." A Whitmer spokeswoman says the request is “election-year politics.”
With hundreds of senior centers largely closed during the pandemic, virtual bingo has its limits. Some seniors indicate they’d rather chance contracting the virus than face an uncertain future filled with loneliness.
More than 2,000 COVID-19 deaths in Michigan have been in long-term care facilities – which accounts for more than 30 percent of the state’s total deaths from the virus.
Saying they are underpaid and unprotected, union members of SEIU Healthcare Michigan say they’re ready to walk. State nursing home advocate says pay has increased; COVID made staffing and PPE a struggle.
Despite new guidelines intended to give nursing homes and other facilities more discretion to allow visitors during a pandemic, families say some centers remain rigid, hurting the residents they are trying to protect.
Isolation is sapping the life of residents in nursing homes and other facilities amid no-visitation policies during COVID-19. As restrictions grind on, Bridge tells the stories of six residents, who are fading a bit day by lonely day.
Michigan Republicans claim Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s policies are partially to blame for 2,000 nursing home deaths. But new data show the state is far from alone in failing to protect its most vulnerable from the virus, as states like Florida once heralded for its policies are seeing dramatic spikes.
Nursing facilities across much of Michigan were devastated by COVID-19, but roughly 200 homes have dodged the virus. Their strategies can help public health experts develop best practices for the next outbreak.
A new report says health disparities and economics helped expose Michigan’s oldest residents to COVID-19 and it offers recommendations that AARP Michigan’s director says are “achievable.”
Michigan health officials finally announced the death toll for nursing homes and the results were sobering. Dozens of nursing homes had 20 deaths or more.
State health officials say they will finally reveal COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes. But this leaves out tens of thousands of vulnerable residents at homes for the aged, adult foster care and unlicensed assisted-living facilities.
As the coronavirus ravaged Michigan, nursing home staffers called in sick, faced equipment shortages and struggled to comply with infection controls, inspection reports from the hardest-hit facilities show.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services acknowledges its count of nursing home COVID-19 cases is likely inaccurate. And the agency still cannot accurately list how many senior residents have died from virus complications.
As questions swirl about transparency of Michigan nursing home data, a Democratic lawmaker slams Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s policies that required homes to accept COVID-19 patients as an ‘epic fail.’
Following trends nationwide, nearly half of all deaths from COVID-19 are in nursing homes in Oakland County. Now, first responders are going into senior centers to test residents and staff in an effort to get ahead of the pandemic.
Michigan last week released records on coronavirus at nursing homes, but the records are incomplete and contain glaring omissions, a Bridge review has found.
