NIAGARA COUNTY, N.Y. (WKBW) — Members of the Niagara County Legislature are making a move to try and protect the most vulnerable among us.
The community of Newfane has the second most positive COVID-19 cases in Niagara County. According to legislators, the majority of those cases are tied to the Newfane Rehabilitation and Health Center. "The facility is a 160-plus bed nursing home that has experienced an unprecedented number of deaths and infections over the last few weeks attributed to COVID-19," as stated in a letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday.
The Niagara County legislature is now asking the governor to consider, "utilizing the former, yet now closed Newfane Intercommunity Hospital as a site specifically for COVID-19 seniors/nursing home patients."
This comes as some lawmakers are calling for an independent investigationinto nursing home deaths statewide.