Cuomo signs off on legislation rolling back legal immunity for nursing homes
Denis Slattery
ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo signed off on legislation Tuesday that fully repeals broad liability protections granted to nursing homes and hospitals in the early days of the COVID pandemic.
The blanket protections against civil and criminal liability for frontline workers as well as hospital executives were buried in last year’s budget as the virus raged across New York, which quickly became the epicenter of the outbreak in the U.S.
The roll back comes a full year later as an embattled Cuomo, facing calls for his resignation over sexual harassment allegations, contends with a federal probe examining the immunity maneuver as well as the state’s handling of nursing home COVID deaths and related data.