Governor Baker’s Performance on Covid in Nursing Homes Lacking

Today’s Globe headline reads, “Same company, same city, two coronavirus outbreaks at separate Medford nursing homes.” In an article published several days earlier, I found the following quote from the facilities’ owner: “I can assure you that we are working around the clock to keep our patients and residents healthy and as safe as possible. We are doing everything in our power — and everything medical experts know as of this time — to protect our patients, residents, and employees.”

The article goes on to detail how prevalent infections and deaths are in nursing homes and how difficult it is to contain the virus once it lands there. Fair enough. But then it reports:

“The Medford home acknowledged it had still not tested its entire staff for COVID-19, although state public health officials began offering testing to all residents and staff at nursing homes at the end of March.

“In a statement, the state Department of Public Health said it had offered staffing support to Courtyard several times, most recently on April 29 when officials at the home were strongly encouraged to accept a National Guard Clinical Support Team, according to Tom Lyons, a spokesman for the department.

“’The facility and corporate ownership (Genesis) declined that offer, believing that their staffing was sufficient,’ Lyons said.”

The behavior of this owner is shocking enough, but some responsibility belongs with our governor. After all the deaths at our nursing homes statewide, he must require frequent testing of staff, both for their and the residents’ safety. Baker is lauded for his calm leadership, but he was late and timid in the shutdown and has lacked passion and a commitment to our most vulnerable citizens. Now, even as yesterday’s number of new cases spiked, he is succumbing to pressure to loosen restrictions. I’m not impressed.

[Submitted as letter to the editor of The Boston Globe but not selected for publication.]