Recently, the Walz administration in Minnesota has faced accusations after a policy on their website was removed.
Under the leadership of Democratic Governor Tim Walz, the state implemented policies that have since come under intense scrutiny, particularly regarding their impact on residents of long-term care facilities in 2020, where a staggering 80% of the state’s C***D related deaths occurred.
One of the most controversial policies allowed C***D positive patients to be transferred from hospitals to nursing homes and other congregate living facilities. This decision, which was also adopted in other states, aimed to free up hospital beds but had devastating consequences for those living in long-term care facilities. The policy, which has since been removed from the public-facing Minnesota government website, was retrieved via the Wayback Machine. It clearly stated that patients with confirmed or suspected C***D could be transferred to these facilities without requiring two negative C***D tests or the discontinuation of transmission-based precautions.
The consequences of this policy became painfully apparent by May 2020, when over 80% of Minnesota’s C***D deaths were among residents of long-term care facilities. Despite the alarming data, Governor Walz defended the decision, stating that it was in line with the practices of other states and that it was made with consideration of the complex challenges posed by the pandemic. “This was what everyone was doing. This was not a mistake,” Walz said, emphasizing the difficulty of managing such a crisis.
However, critics argue that the policy, along with the state’s overall response, contributed to the high mortality rate in nursing homes. According to a report from the “Star Tribune,” nursing homes in Minnesota felt deprioritized when it came to receiving personal protective equipment (PPE), which was crucial for preventing the spread of the virus. The report noted that the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) informed nursing homes that its emergency stockpile of N95 masks was reserved for hospitals, advising them to turn to alternative sources, such as nonmedical cloth masks or community donations.
This lack of resources and support left many nursing homes vulnerable. David Grabowski, a health care policy professor at Harvard Medical School, highlighted the disparity in resource allocation during the early stages of the pandemic, telling “The Atlantic” in April 2020, “Nursing home residents aren’t getting half of our resources or half of our attention, yet they account for roughly half the deaths.”
Compounding the situation was the communication—or lack thereof—between the state, nursing homes, and the families of residents. Many families reported that they were not informed about C***D-positive cases in the facilities, and tragically, some were unable to say their final goodbyes to loved ones who succumbed to the virus. The Walz administration, through an executive order from the MDH, strongly discouraged families from taking residents out of these facilities or bringing them home for visits, even if the residents had tested negative for C***D.
