“Possible HHS Pick” Raimondo Called Out Nationally for Shielding RI Nursing Homes From Liability
GoLocalProv News Team
“Possible HHS Pick” Raimondo Called Out Nationally for Shielding RI Nursing Homes From Liability
“Possible HHS Pick Shielded Nursing Homes From Liability During COVID Outbreak,” write Julia Rock and Andrew Perez in The Daily Poster on Wednesday.
“Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo has presided over one of the deadliest COVID outbreaks and helped shield nursing home companies from accountability — and she could get the nation's top health care job,” they report.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST"Politico reported last week that Raimondo, who made her name slashing state workers’ pensions, is one of the finalists to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under President-elect Joe Biden," they continue, referencing GoLocal’s 2019 article, "Years After Reform, RI Teachers’ Pensions Still a Hot Button Issue - Earns “F” Grade."
Raimondo was also previously considered for Treasury Secretary, according to the American Prospect.
Nursing Homes in Focus
As GoLocal has reported, nursing homes continue be slammed by coronavirus, with 1 in 4 patients infected dying since March.
“While the Biden transition is reportedly considering Raimondo for HHS Secretary, residents and workers in Rhode Island’s nursing homes have faced deadly consequences,” write Rock and Perez. “Documents obtained by The Daily Poster show that Raimondo quickly responded to lobbyists’ demands for an executive order granting them legal immunity during the pandemic.”
The Daily Poster is a grassroots-funded news organization created by David Sirota, a former top advisor to Bernie Sanders.
Watch Sirota on GoLocal LIVE HERE
The article continues:
"On April 9, top officials from Rhode Island’s nursing home lobbying groups sent a letter to Raimondo’s office requesting she give nursing home facilities immunity from civil liability if their residents faced injury or death from COVID. The Daily Poster obtained a copy of the letter through a public records request.
The letter — from the Rhode Island Health Care Association, the Rhode Island Assisted Living Association and LeadingAge RI — noted that nursing home facilities did not have enough personal protective equipment (PPE) and were experiencing staffing shortages due to “worker call-outs, quarantines and fear.”
The organizations requested that the governor issue an executive order making nursing home facilities and workers "immune from civil liability for any injury or death alleged to have been sustained... in the course of providing medical or other health and personal care services in support of the state of Rhode Island's response to the COVID-19 outbreak.”
One day later, the governor’s office issued an executive order granting the lobbyists what they had asked for: Facilities including hospitals and nursing homes were classified as emergency management facilities and granted immunity from civil liability, except in cases of gross negligence or willful misconduct.
A subsequent order reauthorizing the provision said the immunity provision applied to “health care entities, health care professionals and health care workers” at hospitals, nursing homes, and long-term care facilities."
Raimondo's office did not respond to request for comment at time of publication.