Pennacchio: murphy administration decision allowed nursing homes to become “death homes”

Pennacchio: Murphy Administration Decision Allowed Nursing Homes to become “Death Homes”

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1 min read
May 26, 2020

published report stating that as the coronavirus gained a foothold, the health commissioner was reluctant to send state inspectors into nursing homes because they didn’t have sufficiently protective masks prompted outrage from Senator Joe Pennacchio.

“There are no words to explain it, no way to justify it,” said Pennacchio (R-26). “The department essentially washed its hands of the problem, protecting its own experts at the expense of nursing home residents and workers who were left to their own devises to contend with the deadly outbreak. The laissez faire approach turned some facilities into ‘death homes’ for fragile senior citizens.”

The public learned there was something horribly wrong when an anonymous tip to police cited dead bodies piling up at Andover Subacute and Rehabilitation Center in Andover, N.J.

Officers found 17 bodies, and The New York Times reported a post on the facility’s Facebook page, later deleted, said: “To all the people calling into the governor’s office, the congressman’s office to help us tell them WE NEED HELP.”

“People were desperate. Residents, family members, and staff, they all knew the situation was out of control,” said Pennacchio. “What they couldn’t know was inspectors who may have helped were not coming because nursing home environments were too dangerous. The message from the Administration to nursing homes was clear: ‘Fend for yourself. We are not putting the state’s workers at risk.’

“As we now know, the situation would spiral out of control across the state. This unexplainable policy from the Administration delivered a death sentence to 6,000 New Jersey residents,” said Pennacchio. “Worse, patients were left to die alone and scared in fear-filled isolation.

“In the past, this state has had a select committee to examine traffic jams on the George Washington Bridge, yet the voices of 6,000 dead souls are still going out to be heard,” Pennacchio concluded. “I am calling for the immediate formation and meeting of a Select Senate Committee with subpoena power to get answers and justice for the victims and their families.”

Photo by adrianna geo on Unsplash

 

Phil Stilton is the Editor and Publisher of Shore News Network, an independent digital newsroom providing original reporting on New Jersey, national news, government, public policy, public safety, courts, and community affairs.

As founder of the publication, Stilton leads editorial strategy, investigative reporting, and daily newsroom operations while overseeing coverage that reaches millions of readers annually.

With extensive experience covering municipal government, county government, state legislatures, elections, law enforcement, emergency management, and public records, Stilton specializes in translating complex government actions into clear, factual reporting. His work frequently relies on primary source documents, including court filings, legislation, public meeting records, election finance disclosures, government databases, police reports, and Freedom of Information and Open Public Records Act (OPRA) requests. He has reported extensively on local government accountability, taxpayer spending, campaign finance, public corruption investigations, infrastructure, public safety, and the policies affecting New Jersey residents.

Under Stilton's editorial leadership, Shore News Network has grown into one of New Jersey's largest independent digital news organizations, publishing thousands of original news articles each year while providing breaking news coverage, investigative reporting, and analysis across state and local government. The publication's reporting is routinely sourced from official government agencies, public officials, court records, and firsthand documentation, with a commitment to transparency, attribution, corrections when warranted, and clearly distinguishing factual reporting from opinion.

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