Bollin helps sponsor resolution to end policy of COVID patients in long-term care facilities

State Rep. Ann Bollin

State Rep. Ann Bollin, R-Brighton Township, helped sponsor a resolution approved by the Michigan House calling to end Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s policy of placing COVID-19 patients into long-term care facilities. Other states that had implemented the same strategy, such as New York, have since reversed course.

“Placing people who tested positive for COVID-19 under the same roof as our oldest and most vulnerable residents who otherwise would have had no contact with the virus was a deadly mistake,” Bollin said. “It put the health and safety of our mothers, fathers, husbands, wives and grandparents at risk, and most certainly cost lives. This illogical policy must end immediately.”

Senior citizens, especially those in nursing homes, are particularly vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus. Recent reports indicate roughly 34 percent of Michigan’s COVID-19 deaths — more than 1,900 people — have been nursing home residents. In Livingston County, at least 15 of the county’s 28 confirmed COVID-19 deaths have been linked to nursing home residents, according to the county health department. State reports indicate the number of local deaths could be even higher.

Under the governor’s policy, nursing homes without dedicated spaces to isolate and tend to COVID-19 patients are required to send them to regional hubs — a separate nursing home which has been approved by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. An executive order issued by the governor required the hubs to accept patients — even though alternatives were available.

“The field hospitals in Detroit and Novi were closed by the governor after very few patients were admitted,” Bollin said. “Doctors and nurses there sat idly by while nearby nursing homes were forced to treat COVID-19 patients as best they could. It makes no sense.”

Bollin continues to call for the administration to release more information related to this policy, which the governor has acknowledged is flawed. The representative sent a letter to the governor asking her to release the data she is using to make her decisions. The governor’s response stated it was forwarded to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, and Bollin has yet to receive a response from the department.

“We need sensible policies in place that keep our seniors safe,” Bollin said. “This policy simply doesn’t meet that standard — and the consequences have been deadly. I am committed to serving as the voice of our loved ones, especially our seniors in our community, and I won’t stop fighting until we see the data and this dangerous policy ends.”

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The Livingston Post is the only locally owned, all-digital information and opinion site in Livingston County, Mich. It was launched by award-winning journalists who were laid off from the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus by Gannett Co. Inc. in 2009.