North Michigan News

In a recent statement published online, state Sen. Jim Stamas (R-Midland) called out Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for a lack of accountability in how state policies have affected the outcomes for Michiganders in the wake of COVID-19.

“The COVID-19 outbreak has had an enormous impact on our state, but it was made even worse by several major mistakes by the governor,” Stamas wrote on MiSenateGOP.

Stamas said that those failures extended not only to the economic impacts the state was unprepared to address, but the management of the risks to the most vulnerable members of the population as well.

Sen. Jim Stamas | #MiSenateGOP

“Nursing homes are not hospitals, and they are certainly not an appropriate place to house patients with COVID-19, unless they have a confirmed plan to isolate those patients from the other residents,” Stamas said, according to MiSenateGOP.

However, Whitmer’s policy regarding the housing of nursing home patients who've contracted the coronavirus at facilities where they were not residents presented a risk of exposure to others who are among the most vulnerable.

Even while the 1,900 who died in nursing homes from COVID-19 during the height of restrictions already comprises about one-third of the coronavirus deaths in the state, it’s possible that number was actually higher, as other long-term care facilities and assisted living facilities were not included in the number.

In response to Whitmer’s policy, Senate Bill 956 would add requirements for nursing home facilities that accept nonresident coronavirus patients to have state-approved designated areas and isolation programs in place.

Stamas also pointed out that Whitmer did not do enough to respond to the sudden spike in unemployment created by economic restrictions that she ordered, as Michigan reached 24% unemployment in April and those unemployment claims overwhelmed state resources.

“I continue to hear from frustrated, unemployed workers who have yet to receive any support payments and are worried about how they are going to pay the bills and feed their families,” Stamas wrote on MiSenateGOP.