Shelby Review

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer misunderstood Senate Bill 956, which would have prohibited COVID-19 patients from being placed in nursing homes, the bill’s sponsor said.

The governor vetoed the legislation, saying in part that it would require the state to create new COVID-19-only facilities.

It would require “hospitals and many nursing homes to send COVID-19-positive patients to such facilities without any requirement for consent, doctor approval or notification to the patient or their family,” the governor wrote in her veto letter. “The legislation fails to explain how such facilities would be staffed or paid for, or how frail residents would be protected during the potentially traumatic transfer from one facility to another.

Sen. Peter Lucido | #MiSenateGOP

But State Sen. Pete Lucido (R-Shelby Township), sponsor of the legislation, told "The Frank Beckmann Show" that Whitmer did not understand the bill.

“I don’t know what's in her mind,” Lucido told Beckmann. “She’s gotten it wrong. To me, she was misled or misguided on how the bill reads.”

The legislation is simple, according to Lucido. It allows COVID-19 patients to be treated in existing health care facilities, if they will be isolated from other patients in a separate part of the building.

Hospitals could, for example, designate certain floors for COVID-19 patients, Lucido said. His legislation would not require completely separate COVID-19 only facilities.

Approximately 34% of Michigan COVID-19 deaths have been linked to nursing homes, Michigan Live reported.

“From day one, I have protected nursing home residents, following federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services guidance to establish a system of regional hubs and dedicated isolation units,” Whitmer wrote in her veto letter. “To ensure our nursing homes are as safe as possible, I pushed our inspectors to complete 100% of infection control surveys more than two months before the federal deadline, and they delivered.”

The Senate will try to override Whitmer’s veto “to protect the most vulnerable population in our state,” Lucido told Beckmann.